MagicaTale
by Pep Pizza
Summary: In this AU, the Undertale characters are put into the world of Madoka Magica! Will Papyrus wish a new body for Mettaton? Will Frisk manage to make her wish to save her friends? Or will Sans save her from making it? And is Flowey really an innocent little creature, or an incubator in disguise? But a sacrifice is needed for every wish, and it seems Sans is prepared to do anything...
1. Intro!

_SPOILER WARNING?:_ You may want to watch the anime (Madoka Magica) or play the game (Undertale) before you proceed to read this! Just warnin' ya.

...or you don't have to. This story is still perfectly understandable, even if you haven't watched the anime. Who knows? It might create more dramatic tension for you when shocking things happen. ;P

Okay, so here I will be putting thoughts and ideas I had while making this AU. Before officially posting this Crossover, I want to see what others think and if I should change anything. So please, share about what you think, and what could be added or taken out! All kinds of suggestions are accepted, although I may not use them.

Edit: I won't be changing anything now. We're already too far in for that. xP

* * *

 **Character matching:**

 _Madoka- Frisk_

Frisk and Madoka are both main characters, so this seems to work well. Their personalities are also the most similar. Before, I had thought about making Frisk Homura because of her time travel ability, but doing so would leave no one important enough to take the place of Madoka.

-This Frisk's personality will mainly be based off of Madoka. She will not be silent like the normal Frisk, will not hold this face -_-, and is not gender-neutral. Obviously a girl, in this AU.

 _Homura- Sans_

'Cuz why not? Homura is always cool and mysterious, so I figured this would be good for Sans. Also, he's really the only one fit for this role. Frisk counts, but then that would leave him to be Madoka, so screw that. This position is also my excuse for creating some SansXFrisk. :D

-I'll be taking Sans' personality for this, although his is almost exactly the same as Homura's. Except she doesn't smile. And crack awesome puns.

 _Sayaka- Papyrus_

I basically needed a character that was cheery and willing to be Frisk's friend, could easily turned depressed if pressured enough, and had someone close enough to them that they would be willing to sacrifice their lives for them. Namely, Mettaton. (I don't exactly ship it, but it's the only one that fits) No other character has anyone that important to them. Alphys and Undyne are, but then that would mean only _one_ of them could become a Magic Monster, so screw that! :D

-Using Pap's personality for this one, though there will be a couple of Sayaka quotes instead. Also since I'm lazy but unsure, I'll be CAPping only some of the words in Pap's speech, as too many capital letters makes things feel FAT. However, if people like it all caps, I will gladly change them all to look that way!

 _Mami Tome- Alphys_

Basically because of color resemblance, and also since there's no other roles that match her. I also feel that Alphys can be brave when she wants to, so being Mami won't be a prob.

-Will hold the personality of Mami, although Alphys was still stutter in the beginning of some sentences.

 _Kyubey- Flowey_

My first thought: This is the perfect role for Temmie! I mean, they almost look just like Kyubey, they're both equally stupid, and etc! But then… I thought of Flowey. A much more important character, one that is equally clever and deceiving like Kyubey. Obviously, here is our best choice.

-This Flowey will just be a Kyubey with a Flowey face pasted onto him. So the awesome ears and tail will still exist! :3 By doing this, it also means this incubator can display emotions by his face expressions. He also has not-so-pleasant language use, like Flowey. (No red eyes, though)

-Flowey's goal will be to earn enough energy, but not for the universe's sake. (Although he claims it to be) I'm still trying to figure out if he wants Chara back more, or if he wants his old body (Asriel) back. :|

 _Kyoko- Undyne_

Same hair and personality. Obvious match. (Although I later get the hints that Sayaka and Kyoko like each other, but I guess this will just be a Royal Guard and faithful student relationship or something) I'm still trying to figure out what she could've wasted her wish on, since she doesn't necessarily have a family...

-Undyne will eat stuff all the time, like Kyoko.

 _Kyosuke Kamijo- Mettaton_

This may or may not change depending on how much I like Papyrus to stay Sayaka. For example, if Alphys becomes Sayaka, I would have to change Kyosuke to Undyne.

-In this AU, Mettaton is still in a box shape. In fact, no ideal body has been made for him yet, so he's stuck with an incompetent form. He still has fans, one of which includes Papyrus. Seeing Mettaton's discomfort, Papyrus would wish for an ideal body that Mettaton could fuse with, allowing him to become corporeal.

 _Kaname Family- Asgore and Toriel_

Frisk will have no blood-related siblings. Her only other siblings will be Asriel, the little brother. And yes, he is younger in this. (And no Toriel, you may NOT be a Magic Monster. You are too old. xD)

-Asgore and Toriel are adoptive parents of Frisk. Simple.

 _Kazuko Saotome- Muffet_

Muffet gets to be a teacher! Although Toriel may work as well...?

-Muffet's rages will go to the fact that no one buys spider pastries. :)

 _Hitomi Shizuki- Napstablook_

The character for Hitomi will have to fall in love with Mettaton, or at least care deeply enough for him, and I feel like Napstablook would be good for this. They also need to be Frisk's friend as well. (I've considered Monster Kid, but that's a work in progress :\ )

-Will hold the same personality as the normal Napstablook. Quiet, soft spoken, and overall nervous.

 _Nakazawa-kun- Monster Kid_

Currently Monster Kid. I just need a student for the teacher to constantly call on. xD

-Personality is of Nakazawa's, but with "yo" and "dude" added between intervals of his language. Much braver.

-My name for Monster Kid is Lansot, so don't get confused about who that is.

* * *

 **Switch ups?:**

 _-Undertale background-_ Let's just pretend monsters were never banned to live underground, and that magicians never existed, alright? In this AU, monsters are normal in daily life. Also mainly cuz I don't want too much "Frisk is the hero of all monster-kind!" attention.

 _-The skeleton bro's-_ But since I made Papyrus and Sans come from different families, they obviously can't be brothers in this AU. I can't help feeling a bit sad. ;-;

 _-Magic Girls-_ This name obviously won't work, since Sans and Papyrus are not girls. Magic Humans is outright uncreative. So I'll just change the name to _Magic Monsters._ Even though Frisk is a human, this will just be a title without actual meaning to it. Like LOVE isn't actually love, Magic Monsters won't actually be consisted of only monsters.

 _-AU Name_ \- The most obvious name would be Madokatale. But Madoka doesn't exist in this AU, and Frisktale doesn't even make sense. UnderMagica sounds weird, so Magicatale will just have to do.

 _-Relations/Ships-_ SansXFrisk definitely. No UndyneXAlphys (I cri ;-;). PapyrusXMettatonXNapstablook. (Does that make sense?) UndyneXPapyrus is gross. And Soriel just won't even work in this AU, so no to that.

 _-Perspective-_ Story perspective will only ever be written by Frisk and Sans, which means we will be missing out on the scenes when Papyrus visits Mettaton or when Undyne watches Papyrus transform into a witch. If you do not like this, tell me and I may create an exception!

* * *

 **Notes/Credit:**

Picture for story is by suikao on Deviantart! (Go check out their cool Sans art! X3 )

* * *

So, cool? Let me know. And as a preview to this idea, I will post a chapter to let you all see what it's like and what you think about it! :)

Once the ideas are solid, I'll post more chapters.~


	2. It was like I met him in a dream

Everything was black. And white. Black and white and black and white. The pattern continued on everywhere in little squares. Down the staircase, up the ceiling.

Running, running. Light filtering through windows and casting ominous shadows upon the black and white and black. Still running. The pattern is everywhere, turning in large designs of circles beside me. It feels like a passage of time. But can't focus on that. Gotta keep running. But to where?

There. Finally reached something. An open area? Still black and white. But where to go? There's four staircases. Oh look! Finally something not black or white. It's actually turquoise. _EXIT._ Yes… yes! I can leave now. But gotta climb these stairs first… step by step by step. Up the black and white and black. At the top now. Just a few more steps.

Suddenly, cities. White buildings, standing, floating, white. Where am I? Maybe a flashback? Or a foreshadowing? I open the door to the exit.

Met with a crazy scene. In a tiny wood house, on a huge black tree, in a world of floating debris. The sky's dark, the cities torn. The gears continue to turn. Above me, a horrible sight. A huge… _thing_ … up in the air. It was absolutely massive, with huge wings stretching out beside it like an angel of death. Down below, a small insignificant figure. He was a short guy, his head completely white. He wore strange clothes, and a circular looking thing was equipped onto his arm. Before complete identification though, he jumped. Up. Flying towards the _thing_.

A floating building suddenly collided with the figure. I watched as the building exploded onto another one. Was he okay? Relief passed through me when I suddenly saw them, floating to the side not too far away. Yet there was no stop to the attacks. Red streams of fire shot towards this figure of white. He managed to dodge most of them, and brought his shield out to protect him from the last fire. Somehow, that puny thing worked.

"How… awful." I murmured, taking in the scene before me. What was happening to the world?

"It can't be helped." Something said beside me. Their voice was a little squeaky, like a kid's. Confused, I looked down to see the strangest flower I had ever seen. Or was it an animal? There was a flower's head, practically pasted on a white creature with long ears and tail. Little golden rings floated around the ears, seeming not to fall off. The flower actually had face expressions. What was going on?

"Who are you?"

"It was too much for the idiot to handle alone." The flower-animal ignored me, "But he knew this might happen." Pausing, the two of us watched as more fireballs blasted at the white figure and caused him to float in the air momentarily before crashing straight into a tree. Wood exploded everywhere. I winced at the thought of the impact.

"This is awful! This shouldn't even be happening!" I protested to the flower-animal. After all, he was the only one who was there to listen. I stared in desperation at the white figure, who I swore was staring at me, even though he was miles away.

"If you give up, it'll be the end of everything." The flower-animal told me, leaving me blinking at him in bewilderment. "But unfortunately, you're the idiot that has the capacity to change fate. This unavoidable destruction, this sorrow - you can change it all. That's why you have this power."

W-what? _Me_? My eyes widened at this flower's words. "Are… are you telling me the truth?" I stared at this awful world again, and found the white figure falling from the tree. Down down… in the darkness… to his doom. "Can someone like me really do something to stop this? Can I really prevent everything from turning out this way?" Can I even save that figure in white?

"Of course you can!" The flower-animal responded before his face turned to a mischievous grin. "Form a contract with me and become a magic monster!"

I grit my teeth before raising my head in determination. My mind was set.

I had to save the world.

* * *

…

 _Eh?_

I sit up on the mattress and blink, hugging my pink plushie close. I was apparently in bed, on my pillows, and safe under the covers. Weary, I sit myself up and hug my stuffed animal close, examining my perfectly normal room.

"It was a dream?" I sigh in exasperation, holding mt heart locket close to my chest.

* * *

Scarfing down some last bits of breakfast, I smiled as I ran down the path to the park. Today, the world was beautiful. Tall cities, chirping birds in glistening trees, and rays of sunlight shining all over the world. My eyes widened in delight when I found my two best monster friends, one a tall skeleton with a red scarf around his neck, and the other a ghost with sad eyes.

I ran down the paved stone to meet them. "Good morning!" I waved.

"Good morning…" Napstablook mumbled, floating a few centimeters above the ground.

"HUMAN, you're LATE!" Papyrus chided me loudly, wagging his finger in an act of annoyance. He was always loud, so I didn't mind. Then he paused when he noticed the heart locket I was wearing around my neck. "OH Human! THAT'S a CUTE necklace!"

"It's pretty nice..." Napstablook agreed.

"Oh." I hadn't meant for it to stand out like that. I tucked it behind my shirt. "Hey, how 'bout a run?" I suggested. Then the three of us went ahead, laughing lightly as we passed the crystal stream beside us. Then us three chatted about simple things and life in general. It really was a beautiful day outside. I told them about my morning when they questioned me, and came about the topic of Toriel's advice on impressing friends and loved ones.

"She said that?" Napsta frowned after I had explained how Toriel recommended giving snail pies as an effective gift.

"She's PRETTY COOL!" Papyrus commented, "But not as cool as the GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"I wonder if I'll ever get a gift?" Napstablook was so quiet, I could barely hear him.

"OF COURSE you will!" Papyrus encouraged, before casting a suspicious glance in my direction. "Do YOU want a GIFT too, human?"

I frowned. "I dunno." I hadn't really ever thought about it before.

Suddenly, Papyrus' eyebrows wiggled in amusement. Which was weird, since the last time I checked, skeletons didn't have eyebrows. "HUMAN… are you trying to be CUTE? Which is why you started to wear that… HEART NECKLACE?"

"W-what?"

"I bet she taught you the SECRET to being POPULAR!" Papyrus teased, wagging his finger. "DO NOT WORRY, human! Because I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, know ALL ABOUT being popular! If you ever need ANY kind of advice, you just need to ask ME!"

"Eh ha-ha…" I chuckled nervously. "Of course!"

"Guys? We should hurry..." Napsta reminded us. "I think we're gonna be late."

* * *

The bell rang.

But we were on time. Thankfully.

"I have something important to discuss with all of you today." Our monster teacher, a spider called Mrs. Muffet, brought our attention to her. "Make sure you all pay attention." Then she smiled pleasantly before continuing. "Let me ask you… should someone cease to buy a spider's pastries just because their tastebuds are _apparently_ too refined for them? What do _you_ think, Lansot?"

"Y-yo, me?" Monster Kid asked for clarification before answering. "Um… no?"

"That's right!" Our teacher proclaimed, bringing one of her many legs down onto her desk. "Someone should never judge another's pastries, just because they're made by spiders! I hope all you humans understand that! And be sure to check out our bake sale afterwards!" She smiled kindly at the class, expectant. "Also, I'd like to introduce all of you to a new transfer student that'll be joining us."

"Did she seriously leave that until last?" I huffed humorously.

"Okay," The teacher turned to call to the class doorway. "Sans, come in."

The new rather-short student entered. By the looks of it, he was a new monster student. At first glance, he looked like a normal being. Blue, fur-lined hoodie, with a white stripe on each side of his shorts. But at closer inspection, I found that his face was ashen white, and that his eye sockets were dark and empty except for little pinpricks of white that seemed to be his pupils. He had no hair. It took me a moment to realize that this monster was a skeleton. Carrying a pack in hand, he strode up to the board as the students commented on him.

"He looks so cool!" Someone in the front row whispered.

"And cute…" I heard some girls murmur and squeak to the side.

"WOWIE!" Papyrus turned around in his seat to speak to me. "He is a SKELETON as well! I can already tell he will be a VERY COOL DUDE!" I couldn't help stifling my amusement.

But then… I felt myself freeze at a sudden realization. His face was white. He was short. He wasn't wearing the same clothes, but I could still recognize him.

I had almost forgotten about it. "No way… He can't be…" He couldn't be the same person...

"Alright, introduce yourself." Our teacher suggested.

"Names' Sans." The skeleton grinned lazily at the class. His voice was low, not like a normal student's pitch of voice. "And let's just say… that I'm absolutely _Sans_ -ational!" The shit-eating he grin he gave was absolutely Sans-ational indeed. I couldn't help smiling in spite of myself. The class clapped at the introduction, and the teacher could only smile apologetically.

Suddenly, the skeleton whipped his head around to give me a death stare. His eye sockets were dark now, completely unseeing. No sign of pupils anywhere. I found myself flinching from the exchange and looking away, but when I looked back again, the class was still clapping and the skeleton wasn't looking my way anymore. Like nothing had happened.

* * *

Class was over, but apparently the students' excitement was not. Humans and monsters alike, especially girls, were crowding around the new student's desk. What was his name again? Right, Sans. My mind momentarily flashed back to the stare he had given me before, and I found myself flinching again.

"He has a..." Napstablook was giving me a confused look. "A kind of… mysterious aura about him..."

"HEY, Human!" Papyrus bounded over to my desk before bending down to squint at me suspiciously. "Do you know this guy? He's going to RUIN my REPUTATION as the coolest skeleton! And he makes BAD PUNS!"

"Um…" I wasn't really sure how to comment to that.

Suddenly, the conversation at Sans' table had stopped. The crowd parted as he got up. "Nah, don't worry 'bout me. I'll just ask the person in charge." I slightly gasped when I realized that he was heading towards our direction. Napstablook and Papyrus were giving him wary looks of suspicion as he approached us, giving me an unsettling grin. "Hey kiddo," He prompts, his low gravelly voice trailing over us. "You're the health officer for this class, right?"

H-huh? How did he know? "I, uh…" Apparently I was unable to form coherent sentences in this mysterious stranger's presence.

He smiled wider. "So, hate to bother ya, but could ya take me to the nurse's office?"

* * *

"He's so cute!" A girl whispered next to us in the halls, obviously referring to Sans. Now I could see what Papyrus meant when he had said Sans was stealing his reputation. There were two skeletons at this school now… and one was obviously starting to fall behind in terms of popularity.

I sighed as I walked down the hall with the skeleton. "So… how did you know I was the health officer?" I ask him.

I waited for him to answer, and for a moment, he didn't. Just as I was beginning to think he hadn't heard me, his grin widen ridiculously and he answers, "Welp. Muffet told me." It seemed like a lie, but since I didn't see why he would feel the need to do such a thing, I brushed it off and just decided not to push it.

"Oh. I see." I commented simply, seeing a turn ahead and deciding to do my job. "The nurse's office is-" I paused as the skeleton made the correct turn on his own. "Uh…"

"This way, right?" He asked for confirmation, giving me a steely grin.

"Huh? Yeah, but… ah…" I took a deep breath to get it out right. "You just kind of seem like you already know the way. So…" Sans didn't comment, just simply continued to walk ahead of me without talking or communicating whatsoever. I awkwardly followed him. With his back turned to me, I couldn't see his face expressions anymore.

There was no one else around now. It was awkwardly quiet. Maybe I should try to create conversation? "Uh… Sans?"

"Yeah?" He sounded annoyed for some reason.

"You, uh… you have a unique name." I tried. Sans stayed silent, and I wondered if I had pissed him off somehow. "No, I didn't mean it was weird…" I quickly clarified. "I-I think it's cool!" Somehow. Like, didn't 'Sans' mean 'without' in French or something?

Suddenly, Sans whipped around to face me, beads of sweat rolling down his white skull. I wasn't sure what to say. An awkward silence later, the skeleton chose to speak. "Hey kiddo, do you value your current way of life? Food, friends, family… do you think dearly of them?"

Well. That was out of the blue. "I, uh… I guess I do." I answered truthfully. I thought of my family, Toriel, my friends, Papyrus, and all the others… "My family, my friends… I love them. They really mean a lot to me."

"Is that true?" I heard doubt in the skeleton's voice.

"It is!" I confirmed, stepping up a bit, then faltering. "Why wouldn't it be?"

A moment of silence for thought. "I see." He commented. "If that's true, then you mustn't ever think of trying to become someone else. If you do…" His pupils disappeared as he said his next words. "You'll lose everything."

"H-huh?"

The pupils were back. "You just need to stay Frisk, just like you have so far." He turned away to leave.

I didn't follow him.

* * *

He was good at everything. Everything he did in school, at least. He could define everything perfectly, and knew every word. He solved math equations like they were child's play. He read and wrote like a pro. He passed almost every physical test, setting new records for every run and jump. In his wake, he left a surprised and delighted class, teacher included. Couldn't say the same for me though. Everywhere he goes, it's just as Nasptablook said. He leaves behind this mysterious aura about him… and it's just not trustworthy.

I mean… what was there about him to trust?

* * *

"HUH? What's THAT about?"

"Doesn't make any sense, does it?" I sighed, munching on a burger. I was in the cafeteria with my friends, eating.

"I thought he was one of those COOL and AWESOME dudes who were well-read and ATHLETIC, but instead he's just a REPUTATION STEALER! Just HOW BIG of an impression do you have to MAKE on people?" Papyrus' eyes widened in almost a scary way. "And those PUNS! I just CAN'T HANDLE THEM!"

Napstablook looked nervous. "Is this really the first time... you've met Sans…"

"Well…" I shrugged. "I _guess_ I'd have to say yes."

"You GUESS?" Papyrus' eyes were back to normal, thankfully. "Is there some WEIRD REASON why you'd say NO?"

"Uh…" Did I really want to share my dreams in this? Well, they _were_ my friends. Telling them couldn't hurt. "I… think I saw him in a dream I had last night." A brief moment of silence before both of them started to laugh hysterically. I found myself incapable of forming a word during that.

"That's GREAT!" Papyrus congratulated me while forking some spaghetti. "THIS is the FIRST STEP to becoming POPULAR! By doing this, you can get some ATTENTION to yourself!"

I felt my face burning up at the humiliation. "I'm serious!" I protested. "I'm actually worried about this!"

Papyrus actually seemed doubtful now. Napstablook took this as his cue to ask, "What type of dream?..."

"I don't remember…" I admitted shamefully. "I just know it was _really_ strange."

"Well…" Napsta seemed to be deep in thought. "Well maybe… you really _have_ met him before?..."

"Huh?"

"I mean..." He proposed nervously. "You might not remember him... but subconsciously, you know him from _somewhere_ , and that may have come out in your dream?..." I've never heard him talk so much before.

"Isn't that just a little too convenient?" Papyrus mumbled, obviously not happy. "How much of a coincidence is that?"

"I'm sorry… it was a terrible idea..." Napstablook looked ready to shrink into a puddle. Suddenly, he turned to look at the clock on the wall. "Oh… it's so late..." He turned back to us apologetically. "I'm sorry for being such a bother..."

"For what?" Papyrus asked skeptically, wondering what he was late for.

"Sorry..." Napstablook answered sullenly, making his way to leave the table and ignoring us. "I just wanted to make a good impression..."

I sighed. "Shall we go as well?" I suggested to Papyrus, starting to get up as well.

"Right. HUMAN!" He suddenly leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "Is it POSSIBLE for us to stop by that DEPOT STORE on the way BACK today?"

I smiled. "Sure. Mettaton's again?" I guessed.

Papyrus grinned sheepishly. He was nothing like Sans, and I was grateful for that. "You know how it is." He loudly whispered.

* * *

After saying goodbye to Napstablook, Papyrus and I made our way to the store. There were a couple of others milling around, but not many. It looked like we would be able to look for out items in peace. Finding an interest in some kind of mechanism laid to the side, Papyrus and I headed to opposite sides of the shelves to examine the material. The merch here was pricey, but everything was undoubtedly shiny and well-crafted. It was no wonder Mettaton liked this store so much.

 _Save me!_ I jerk my head upwards, swerving my head around the room. What… was that? From another customer, maybe? I tore my attention away from the machines to see if anyone was calling out to me. Everyone was busy finding their own things. _Save me, Frisk!_ There it was again. Who was that? Was I the only one who could hear it? I looked around for anyone that might've noticed the voice, but everyone was oblivious to the pleading of it. _IDIOT! Just save me already!_ Apparently, it was just in my head? Confused, I decided to try tracing the source of the sound.

After some searching, I found myself walking down the stairs of the store, heading underground. "Who's there?" I asked to the emptiness of the room. Only my voice echoed back at me. And the voice in my head. _Just… save me._ I kept heading onwards, hoping to find the source of the voice. It must've been close, right?

Eyes widening, I looked to the side to find a large staircase leading to another larger door. This must be the place. I ignored the nearby sign as I headed up and opened the door. I was met with a creepy dark room, with piles of stuff covered by sheets and nothing but the bleak light coming from my doorway to illuminate it. It looked like a large storage room full of dusty construction supplies. Was this a good idea?

I cautiously headed in, tip-toeing as not to make too much noise. "Where are you?" I whispered to the darkness. "Who are you?" Nothing. Just a few orange cones, red lights, and lots of pillars. Cautious, I headed forward more. _Save… me._ Then I finally heard it. Above me, the ceiling was moving. Before I could even do anything, it suddenly collapsed, loudly banging onto the ground and bringing down debris and a creature with it. I jumped back to avoid impact.

In front of me was a furry white creature. He looked extremely scratched up. Hurt and bruised and just… beat up. But… what was that yellow thing around his head?

I quickly crawled forward to take the creature in my arms. "Was that you?" I asked him, sitting down. Turning his head in my direction, I realized that the yellow thing around his head was petals. His face was a flower!

"Save me…" He pleaded, face scrunching up, and a petal falling off his face.

Chains clanked. Gasping, I looked up to see a familiar skeleton. And he was not Papyrus. " _Sans_?" What was he doing here? Boy, did he _not_ look happy.

"Move away from that thing." He ordered. He was wearing that same clothing from the dream. I could tell he was trying to stay patient with me, but unfortunately, I had none for him.

"B-but he's hurt!" I protested. Looking down at the sorry creature, I could see him panting for breath. Looking back up at Sans, I felt determination welling up inside me. "N-no! Don't hurt him!"

The skeleton took no hesitation to step forward, bit by bit. "This has nothing to do with you, kid." His left eye was flashing blue, but I had no time to question it.

"But he called for me!" I tried to reason with him. "I heard him telling me to save him!"

A slight pause. "I see." Chains clinked more. I could only stare at him in disbelief, hoping he wouldn't do something harmful to the creature in my arms. Would he do anything to get to it? Would he hurt me? Sans only stares back, his eye sockets darker than ever. For some reason, his grin was still there. It was unnerving. More chain clinking.

Suddenly, a huge force was blasted onto the skeleton, and he disappeared in the steam.

"HUMAN! THIS WAY!"

"Papyrus!" Ever so grateful, I got up to follow him as he tossed his fire extinguisher away. Then with the two of us together, we started to run away as fast as we could.

"What is he doing THIS time?" Papyrus cried indignantly. "ATTACKING people randomly while COSPLAYING? That's MY job!" I can't help letting out a small laugh. "Actually, what _is_ that?" He pointed to the creature in my arms. "Is it a stuffed animal?"

"I don't know." I huffed before repeating, "I don't know, but… I need to save him!" We ran and ran and ran and then suddenly… the world began to change.

Suddenly, nothing looked familiar. "HUH?" Papyrus gasped, screeching to a stop. "Where's the EMERGENCY exit? Where ARE we?"

We were in a barren land. There were butterflies, but they were huge. And the patterns on them didn't seem real. "What is this place?" I whispered, watching the world transform around me. "Everything keeps changing." Flowers, people, letters, stop-lights, angels, more butterflies… everything kept shifting. The items appearing in the sky and on the ground were completely random. There was no up or down, left or right.

"Do not worry, HUMAN! I, the GREAT PAPYRUS, shall protect you!"

I looked up. "S-something's there!" I squeaked. Behind some very weird looking bushes, there were a couple of fluffy white things with mustaches pasted onto them.

Butterflies rose. Mustaches grew. Roses bloomed. Bees flew. Everything pranced mockingly around us as they sang a little song. The cotton balls grew arms and legs. The butterflies managed to use their wings like legs to dance with the cotton balls. Everyone's heads bobbed tauntingly as Papyrus and I huddled next to each other.

"THIS…" Papyrus sounded disbelieving. "This CAN'T be happening, can it? It's just a bad DREAM, right human?"

I wasn't sure how to answer. Scissors snipped the air. Thorny vines and bristles grew on the ceiling. Indecipherable words floated around in straight, orderly lines. Suddenly, the cotton balls grew scarier. They now had pale blue lips take up the place of their mouth, and huge black scribbles for eyes. They were getting closer, and closer. I shut my eyes tight as Papyrus stood protectively in front of me.

Suddenly, chains broke and fell. Stripes were in the air. And then, a huge blast came down onto us, eradicating all nearby cotton balls and leaving a beautiful flower-covered floor. As the last beams of light died away, we could only stand and watch in amazement.

"HUH?" Papyrus squinted his eyes curiously. "WHAT WAS THAT…"

"What's going on?" I mumbled.

"T-that was pretty close," A voice said behind us. "But it's all okay now." Gasping, Papyrus and I turned around to find a new monster. She was a lizard-type, with orange spots on her tail, and big round glasses upon her head. She headed down to us, an orange gem sparkling in her hands. Seeing our inability to speak, she filled in the gap for us. "Y-you saved Flowey, didn't you?" She sighed in relief. "Thank you. H-he's an important friend of mine."

I cradled the creature closer. "He called for me." I finally managed to speak. "I heard his voice in my mind." Gee, did I totally sound sane.

"I-I see." The monster adjusted her glasses slightly. She didn't seem slightly disturbed by my preposterous claims. "I assume you're Ebbot students as well? Maybe juniors?"

"WHO ARE YOU?" Papyrus asked curiously.

"O-Oh, right! I should introduce myself." Suddenly, more thorny vines started to protrude from the ground around us, and I yelped in surprise. "But! Before that…" The lizard suddenly started to perform a little dance before throwing her gem into the air. "W-would you mind? If I took care of a little something first?"

Then right before our eyes, the gem glowed and set off huge beams of light. The clothes on her started to change into what looked more like a uniform rather than casual clothing. Her transformation caused gushes of wind to blow, and I closed my eyes and brought out my arms protectively. When they were open again, I found her standing atop a pile of stuff, looking grim and heroic as cotton balls surrounded her. Was this seriously for real?

Suddenly jumping into the air and with a swipe of her arm, hundreds… no, _thousands_ , of remotes appeared out of thin air next to her. The amount of them was absolutely intimidating. Each of them had a single red button in its center. With another wave of her arm, the buttons were all compressed and yellow shots were fired out mercilessly. Balls of fire shot into the crowd of puff balls, each of them screeching as they were destroyed. Yellow bullets ricocheted and the place was filled with bursts of huge explosions. It was like watching fireworks. When the enemies were all obliterated, she dropped down to examine the smoke and to look for enemy survivors.

Papyrus and I could only watch in amazement. "W-wow…" I mouthed. Suddenly, the world around us started to quiver, and I found the imaginary world starting to disappear as the original landscape of the room took over. I had never been so glad to see the dark creepy room again.

"E-everything's BACK to NORMAL!" Papyrus cheered, and I sighed in relief.

But our celebration couldn't last. Suddenly, Sans was in front of us again. He was still wearing the familiar costume. Now, he was standing on top of one of the piles of planks that was covered with a sheet. The height he obtained from that standpoint was enough to make him look superior, and I had a feeling that it was what he was going for.

"The witch ran away." The monster that just saved us told the skeleton. "If you want to take it down, you'll need to chase after it quickly. I'll give the witch to you this time."

The glare that Sans gave was enough to melt metal. "The witch isn't what I'm interested in."

"You don't seem to understand what's going on here." She responded nonchalantly. "I'm saying I'll let you go." The skeleton hesitated, but didn't move. "I think we both would like to avoid any unnecessary trouble."

Sans didn't move. Papyrus moved protectively in front of me. The monster girl only smiled uneasily. Finally, after what seemed to be forever, Sans turned his back to us to jump off. A second later, he was gone.

Papyrus and I both let out a breath we hadn't known we were holding. With our savior turning to look at us, we both smiled gratefully at her.

* * *

The creature stirred awake as his wounds were healed. "Hey thanks. You saved me." I was surprised to hear this flower-animal talk, although I didn't know why. He had been calling to me the whole time, after all…

"Thank them." The monster-girl suggested, motioning to us. "I-I was just passing by."

With no hesitation, the flower-animal turned around to face Papyrus and I. "Thank you very much!" He spoke to us, and it was only then that I realized this creature was rather cute. "My name is Flowey! Flowey the-" Suddenly he stopped. "Uh… I mean, I'm just Flowey."

Not a very creative name, but I can't protest to that. "Were you the one that was calling for me?" I asked, needing to make sure.

"That's right, Papyrus and Frisk!"

"Creature," Papyrus addressed Flowey, "HOW do you know our NAMES?"

"I came here to ask you two to help." He replied simply.

"To… help?" I repeated.

Flowey bobbed his head excitedly. "I want you to form a contract with me and become Magic Monsters!"


	3. I thought that was really nice

" _Alphys here."_

" _A senior at Ebbot Middle School, just like you two."_

" _And… I'm a magic monster that has made a contract with Flowey."_

* * *

My alarm clock is beeping. I shut it off before sitting up to hug my stuffed animal. After a moment or two, I sighed in exasperation. "Another weird dream…" I realize. But then suddenly, I notice something behind me. Sitting on my bed.

"Good morning, Frisk!" Flowey greets me, smiling mischievously.

 _Huh?_ Oh wait. I chuckle lightly as I remembered the previous day's events. So it wasn't a dream.

* * *

"What a strange room!" I gasped as Papyrus did the same. It was a rather messy little room, with white and brown shelves filled with books to potted plants with blooming yellow flowers and all the like. White lab benches and strange concoctions were lined up against the wall, and some random chip bags were laying around. There were pillows and a pile of anime discs in the corner, and a simple table set in the middle of a black and white patterned carpet. There were heaps of items piled on the table as well, and Alphys hurried over to clear it. Yellow lights hung from the ceiling and a mysterious escalator to the side lead to an upstairs. Everything was strange, messy, yet comfortable. Flowey was sitting contentedly on the carpet.

"I live alone, so make yourselves at home." Alphys said, before adding quietly, "I didn't really have time to get ready for guests though…"

She treated us to some bags of chips and tea. The brand was labeled "Chisps," I reckoned it must've been a monster thing. The chips also seemed to dissolve in my mouth, like magic. "This is so cool!" I say as I cram a few more chips into my mouth.

"It's PRETTY GOOD. But a little GREASY." Papyrus hums, trying a few himself. I hadn't known he could eat anything besides spaghetti. In fact, I wasn't even sure how skeletons were supposed to eat.

"T-thank you." Alphys responded, obviously embarrassed and adjusting her glasses again. "And since you've been chosen by Flowey, this is your problem as well. I thought a decent explanation of what has been going on would be in order."

"Of COURSE!" Papryus responded happily, dropping his chip bag. "Just ask me ANYTHING!"

"Paps, I think you have it backwards."

Alphys only smiled kindly before showing us something in her hand. It was the gem from before, and close up, the light seemed to reflect perfectly in it so it looked like a priceless crystal worth a million dollars.

"That's so pretty…" I murmured.

"This is a soul gem." Alphys told us, "It's a gem created by the monsters that are chosen by Flowey, born of their contract. It identifies them as a magical monster and is the source of their magic power."

"What do you mean by a CONTRACT?" Papyrus asked curiously.

All heads turned to Flowey. He raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "I'll grant each of you one wish, whatever you want."

"WHAT? SERIOUSLY?"

"A wish…" I commented dryly, thinking.

"It can be anything." Flowey confirmed. "No matter the miracle, I can make it happen."

I could already tell Papyrus was thinking. He started to eagerly list off on possible wishes. "PRICELESS treasures, UNENDING popularity…" Suddenly, Papyrus brightened up. "And a HUGE spaghetti FEAST!" I could only chuckle at Papyrus' humor.

"But!" Flowey reminded us. "A soul gem is produced in exchange. Those that receive these jewels are charged with a mission to fight witches."

"Witches?" There it was again. Maybe someone could finally explain what it meant.

"WHAT is a WITCH?" Papyrus asked thoughtfully, "Are they DIFFERENT from MAGIC MONSTERS?"

Flowey took this as his cue to answer. "If magic monsters are said to be born from positive desires like wishes, then witches are born from negative desires like curses. Magical monsters spread hope, witches spread despair." He shrugged before adding, "And to make matters worse, they can't be seen by the like of normal humans _or_ monsters. Doubt and suspicion, extreme anger and hate. They bring seeds of catastrophe to this world of yours."

"The curse of a witch is almost always behind unexplained murders and suicides." Alphys put in, "They become a formless evil and eat away at humans from the inside-out."

"But if they're so DANGEROUS, how come no one KNOWS about them?"

Flowey again. "That's because witches hide within barriers and never show themselves to people. The labyrinth-type area you wandered into before was one of their barriers."

"That was pretty close." Alphys sighed, "Humans swallowed up by those barriers usually don't make it out alive."

All this shocking information being relayed to us... it was difficult to comprehend. Dangerous, lurking forces, unknown and unseen to human and monster-kind? Something so evil, yet no one but Magical Monsters could deal with them?

"Alphys…" I start, feeling pity and fear building up inside me. "You're fighting something _that_ dangerous?"

"T-that's right." Alphys confirmed, with a hint of finality in her tone of voice. "I put my life on the line. That's why I think you two should weigh your options carefully. Any desire you have can now be granted, now that you have been chosen by Flowey. But doing so can lead to…" She gulped. "Death.

"This is a HARD CHOICE." Papyrus muses, thinking.

"So. I had an idea." Alphys began, "W-why don't you come along with me while I take out some witches?"

" _Huh?_ " Papyrus and I questioned at almost the same time. The suggestion was so out-of-the-blue, I actually found it a bit hard to believe.

"I-it'll be better to see out of your own eyes what it means to fight witches." Alphys remarks, nervously gesturing with her hands. "Once that happens, you can think about whether or not you have a wish so great that you'd risk putting yourself in danger."

* * *

After that day, I had learned a couple of things. First off, no one could see Flowey except Magic Monsters, or apparently, those who had the potential to become them. Namely, Papyrus and I. Also, Flowey had the ability to let all Magic Monsters talk to each other by thought communication, so we were able to speak to each other without letting others know. Unfortunately, Papyrus and I silently exchanging thoughts on the way to school had earned a couple of strange theories from Napstablook.

Lastly, we had discussed the danger of Sans. We didn't want him attacking us again. According to Flowey, Sans had only been after him to cease the creation of Magic Monsters, as the creation of more would create bigger competition. According to Alphys, compensations could be achieved when taking out a witch. So basically, the assumption we came up with was the fact that Sans had guessed beforehand that Flowey would like to turn me to a Magic Monster, and that was why he had been targeting me all morning.

I felt like it was more than that. But I couldn't figure what.

"HUMAN?" Papyrus brought me out of my thoughts. We were having lunch outside at the top of the school building. It was a nice day out, with a cool breeze and white fluffy clouds floating overhead. "Have you thought about what WISH you want to make?"

"No," I shook my head. "What about you?"

"I haven't either." He responded forlornly. "I had imagined a BUNCH of things would just come to me… there are MANY THINGS that I would want to have and do. But the fact we'll risk our LIVES kind of makes you rethink things, doesn't it?" Papyrus rubs his gloved hand under his skull before getting up to think. "You just end up THINKING that it really isn't WORTH THAT much in the END."

"...yeah." I agreed. There was silence between us for a while. Flowey only sat quietly to the side, listening in.

"I'm sure there are OTHER people who'd REALLY want a chance like THIS." He pointed out. I could tell he was thinking of someone.

"Papyrus…"

Then suddenly, from the other end of the roof, was Sans. He was heading our way, slowly. I freeze up, but Papyrus immediately stands protectively in front of me. What was he going to do?

"D-don't worry." Alphys' voice speaks up in our minds. Looking to our left, we can see her hiding in a nearby watch tower. If anything bad happened, she would come to stop it. We were fine.

The skeleton was just a few feet away from us now. He finally paused when he was within talking range.

Papyrus spoke first. "A-are you here to FINISH the JOB?"

"Nah, that ain't my intent." At the moment, he just seemed like a friendly student. He looked down at Flowey with a kind of resentment. "I wanted to handle things before he made contact with Frisk, but it's too late for that now." He sighed before facing me. "So. What have you decided? Are ya going to become a Magic Monster too?"

"I…" I couldn't answer to his intimidating gaze.

"T-this is not YOUR business!" Papyrus defended me.

But Sans ignored him. "Ya remember what I said to you yesterday?" He asked.

I gulped. "Yeah."

"That's fine then. Real fine." He turned to leave. "Let's pray that the warning doesn't fall on deaf ears then, huh?" He started to walk away, back from where he came.

"S-Sans!" I called out to him, one last question burning in my mind. "What wish did you make to become a Magic Monster?" Sans suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to give me an extremely serious, dreading look. Then he turned back around and strode away firmly, without answering the question.

* * *

"Okay," Alphys spoke out, seeming determined. "Let's begin our first lesson on the Magical Monster experience. Are you two ready?"

"I brought A BAT!" Papyrus proclaimed unashamedly, bringing out a full-fledged baseball bat.

"Plenty enthusiastic." Alphys noted.

"HUMAN! Did you bring ANYTHING?"

I blinked at them before quickly shaking my head. I believed Alphys could protect us.

"Now, this shows the magic residue left behind by the witch yesterday." Alphys instructs us, showing us her flashing orange gem in her scaly hand. "Searching for witches basically involves a lot of walking. All you have to do is follow the Soul Gem as it picks up the witch's whereabouts."

"THAT is SURPRISINGLY UNCOOL." Papyrus remarks, following Alphys' lead.

* * *

"These are rather strong pulses of magical energy." Alphys explained to us as her gem glowed a vibrant yellow. "It might be close." The three of us ran up to the factory building ahead, looking for signs of danger or witches. I carried Flowey in my arms, as for some reason, he felt incapable of walking, being the lazy flower he is. "I'm sure it's here." The gem was glowing like crazy now.

"Human! LOOK!" Had he found something? Papyrus was pointing to the roof of the building. Looming before us, I saw the figure. She jumped. _Oh no._

Alphys suddenly ran ahead as she raised her arms, summoning golden ribbons to appear around her. Now below the falling figure, the ribbons rose to slow down the fall of the person, and successfully did so before bringing her onto the ground gently. Papyrus and I ran over to help.

Now up close, we could see a strange crown-shaped tattoo marking on the woman's neck. "A-a kiss from a witch." Alphys explained gravely. Was it bad? "I knew it." She started to get up.

"Is she?..." Does a witch's kiss kill people?

"It's okay." Alphsy reassured us. "She's just unconscious. Let's go." The three of us rushed into the building, and were met with cracked stone and wood. Things hung from the ceiling, and yellow strips of "Keep Out" paper were wrapped around nearby shelves. Stepping forward, Alphys examined her surroundings for anything suspicious.

Suddenly ahead of us and at the top of a large staircase, a huge circular portal opened up. It was ominously red on the edges, and right in the middle was the design that was tattooed onto the woman's neck. A crown.

"I'm not letting you get away today." Alphys said determinedly as she faced the portal.

"WOW!" Looking over, I realized that Papyrus' wooden bat had been transformed into a thick, metal one. Not to mention the fancy designs on it. Alphys had enhanced its strength somehow.

"It's nothing special, but it'll at least help to protect you. Make sure you keep alongside me, okay?" Alphys headed into the portal.

"OKAY!" Papyrus answered, following her in. I blinked a couple of moments at it. It looked hazy and bright… dangerous. Should I jump in? Looking behind my shoulder, I could've sworn someone was following us. There was nobody. Just thinking of the witch was getting on me nerves. Taking a deep breath, I entered.

Already, the world was getting creepy. The cotton balls were there again, standing on butterflies and tossing roses to one another. My friends were waiting for me, and Alphys nodded her head forwards. Trying to tear my gaze away from them, I followed my friends up a long, yellow staircase.

At the top, we were met with a dome and more enemies. This time, they were ghost butterflies, and they still wore mustaches. With one swift motion, Alphys took them all out with a couple clicks from her remote gun. Then she tossed it aside before moving ahead into a hallway to the side. I was unsure about how she knew where she was going, but I didn't question it.

Past a yellow door, and met with more stairs, columns, and enemies. Some started to fly our way, and Alphys was distracted at getting rid of her own foes.

"DO NOT worry, human! I will PROTECT you!" Papyrus swung his bat around, and actually managed to keep most of them away.

More running down bridges. "W-well," Alphys prompted, "Are you scared?" Little bristles here and there. A huge dome looming above us. More enemies flitting around like butterflies. I _was_ scared, but...

"T-this is NOTHING!" Papyrus claimed bravely. He suddenly stopped as Alphys paused and put her arm out. Ahead of us was a metal bridge leading to a final orange corridor. She took out her remote and blasted a few enemies first. A few started to mold together to form a stronger combination, but Alphys smacked it away by roughly tossing a few metal guns at it.

More running. "Keep it up!" She calls back to us, "We'll be at the core of the barrier soon!" I gaze in horror at the scene next to us. More black patterns, roses, cotton balls, butterflies, mustaches, and that deadly crown symbol again. The scary symbols made me feel sick.

At the end of the corridor, and below us loomed a huge abyss of cotton balls, snapping scissors, and rising thorny vines. And was that a high-heel? Alphys jumped straight into the abyss and landed gracefully before summoning a circle of remote guns, blasting the cotton balls to smithereens with the press of a button. The enemies exploded in butterflies, and in front of us, we were rewarded with a door behind drawn curtains.

In we went. Behind, another door of butterflies. Behind, another door of thorny roses. Behind, another door of cupids. And finally, through another door onto a ledge, and met with unlimited patterns. In the middle, a single dastardly creature. It's body was long and hunched like a deformed snail, and a pair of black-outlined butterfly wings grew on its back. It's head looked like it was drooping, practically a ball of barf. There were little roses in it.

Simply to say, I was _terrified._

It suddenly rose, as if it could sense our presence. I felt myself flinching at every move it made. "Look." Alphys explained, "That's a witch."

"It looks GREASY!" Papyrus proclaimed, holding his bat tightly. I could see his bony arms shaking.

"You're not seriously going to fight that?" I ask, casting it another worried glance.

"It's okay." Alphys reassured us. "I won't lose." She suddenly struck the ground, and a barrier was created on the ledge, separating us from the room. "Keep back." She instructs before floating down into the boss room to confront the witch. Little ghosts flitted on the ground, and she crushed one with her foot, as if to show her ferociousness.

The witch finally noticed her. I watched at his gruesome head turned to her. Alphys drew out a few remote guns from under her skirt. The battle was about to start.

Then suddenly, a _humongous_ couch was flung onto her. Somehow, she managed to avoid it and shoot it in half. The witch flitted around the room with her tiny wings, and Alphys temporarily removed her hat to summon more guns next to her. Putting the hat back on, she took her time to pick up a remote, press the button, drop it, then pick up another. She continued this spree, exchanging turns between her two hands.

Actually excited, I turned to look at the witch, only to see that all the shots were missing. That huge, clumsy monster was actually lithe enough to dodge those things. The shots stopped. Surprised, I looked back down to see that Alphys was now surrounded by those little ghosts that had been on the ground earlier, the one that she had squashed. A thick wire now grabbed onto her, extending from the witch. Alphys was brought into the air, hanging upside-down, but she still continued to fire shots. The ground cracked from her continuous misses. Then with a simple flick, Alphys was sent crash-landing into the wall. I winced involuntarily when that happened, and Papyrus gasped alongside with me.

The smoke cleared, and Alphys was still conscious. With the vine still around her, it brought her out hanging in the air, her arms limp as they dangled. "Alphys!" I called out, afraid.

She turns to look at us. "Don't worry." She calls out, attempting a smile. "I can't let my future mentees see me when I'm down." The cracks made by her bullets suddenly started to glow, and colorful flowers and rich, green vines grew and rose out of them. Seeming angry, the witch summoned thorny scissors from her head and attempted to cut away at the vines, but they just wrapped around her endlessly.

"Close." Alphys teased. "But not good enough." She removed the ribbon around her neck, and flung it out, allowing it to cut the wire holding her. She caught the ribbon as she fell, and twirled it until it looked like a tornado. In the next moment, it had become a _huge_ rectangular piece of metal, a remote gun five times her size! Alphys carried it like it weighed nothing.

The witch struggled and twisted, but couldn't escape the green vines holding her down. Alphys winked before pressing the button on her huge gun. "Pilo Finale!" The blast fired, and the remote shattered from the force. The room was spinning. The fire shot unto the witch, and it struggled one last time before it was obliterated in an exploding mess, leaving behind a trail of butterflies. Alphys landed gracefully onto the ground, drinking something in her hands.

Sipping a cup of tea, Alphys turned to give us a look of relief.

"She WON?" Papyrus asked dumbfoundedly. But I was more confused from where she got her cup of tea from.

The world around us started to quiver, and in the next moment, we were back in the factory. Dull light was filtering through the windows. Alphys was ahead of us in the hall, walking up to something and bending down to pick it up. Confused, Papyrus and I headed up to her.

"This is a Grief Seed." She informed us, holding out a circular object with a spike protruding through it. It was pure black, with silver thorn designs on it. "It's a witch egg."

"E-egg?" Was it its offspring or something? Please don't tell me it's going to hatch…

"If you're lucky, sometimes witches will have one on them."

"Don't worry!" Flowey assured us, waving his paw. "It's safe in that form."

"A-actually, it's extremely useful." Alphys took our her soul gem for us to examine. "My Soul gem looks a little less bright than it was last night, right?"

"Now that you mention it…" I pondered, finding her gem a bit more dull colored than I remembered.

"But," She continued. "If you use a Grief Seed… well, take a look." She brought the seed and her gem close together, and I watched as a strange black substance left her gem to enter the seed. The gem was bright again.

"It's BACK to NORMAL!" Papyrus remarked.

"S-see?" Alphys explained. "Now the magic I've depleted is back to normal. That is the compensation for defeating witches that I was speaking of before." The next thing she did was totally unexpected. Taking a step back, she drew her arm back and threw the seed straight into an empty doorway close by. But instead of hearing multiple noises of its fall, we heard a single satisfying thump. Someone had _caught_ it. "You should be able to use it one more time." Alphys spoke to the doorway. But who was she speaking to?

Someone started to appear from the doorway. "I'll give it to you." Alphys continued, as an all-too familiar skeleton showed up, giving us all an unsatisfied grin. "...Sans."

"It's HIM again!" Papyrus stated the obvious. Sans just gave us an empty look, so I wasn't sure what to think. What was he doing here? Was he the presence I had sensed following us before I entered the portal?

"Or are you unhappy sharing with another?" Alphys prompted.

"It was your prey." Sans shrugged, "You should keep this for yourself." In one swift motion, he had tossed it back into Alphys' hands. Both looked equally displeased.

"I see." She regarded him coldly. "So that's your answer."

"Yeah." The skeleton turned himself around before stalking away, back into the darkness. He was gone.

"THAT GUY IS WEIRD!" Papyrus proclaimed loudly. I was pretty sure Sans could hear that.

"I wish we could all just get along." I sigh.

"That only works if everyone feels the same way." Alphys responded uneasily.

* * *

At home, at desk, just thinking.

It was too difficult for me, trying to come up with a wish I wanted to be made true on a moment's notice. But seeing Alphys trying her best to save others was really amazing. If someone like me could really help other people and monsters… I figured it would be really nice.

So _maybe_ , if I stayed determined enough, then…

Then…


	4. I'm not scared of anything anymore

**Okay, I give up. All of Papyrus' words are gonna be CAPS now.**

 **P.S. You may want to play the song "Magia" while you're reading the battle scenes, to add more tension. :D**

* * *

"SHE IS ALWAYS SO COOL!" Papyrus chanted, just as Alphys defeated another witch. "BUT NOT AS COOL AS ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

Alphys was standing on a nearby lamppost. "T-this isn't just a show, you know." There was a tone of seriousness in her voice. "I-I don't want you to forget that what we're doing is dangerous."

"NYEH!" Was Papyrus' reply.

As Flowey scampered around the playground, I realized something. "It didn't drop a Grief Seed?"

"It's just a Familiar that split off from the witch." Flowey explained. "They don't have Grief Seeds."

"So it wasn't a witch?" I contemplated.

"We c-can't just ignore them though." Alphys insisted. "Once they mature, they'll develop into witches just like the original." Understanding, Papyrus and I nodded. "Alright, let's go."

The three of us (or four, if you count Flowey) walked down the stone path, trying to soak in all the stories and information about these witches and their rules.

"Did you two find something to wish for yet?" Alphys asked.

Papyrus sighed in defeat. Seeming to want to get the attention away from him, he motioned to me. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, FRISK?"

I sighed in reply. In return, Alphys smiled uneasily. "W-well, I guess that's normal. Especially when thinking up something s-specific."

A question suddenly stirred in the back of my mind. "Hey Alphys, what did _you_ wish for?" She immediately stopped in her tracks, a dark look on her face, and I wondered if I had struck a bad chord. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" I quickly added.

Alphys just shook her head. "In my case, I…" She paused, seeming to be lost in memories. "I-I didn't even have time to think about it. O-of course, it's not like I regret it. I think my current way of living is m-much better than dying back there." The three of us resumed walking. "B-but, you know… I think it's better for a someone to carefully consider what they want, i-if they have the chance to do so. Especially s-since I never got the opportunity, you know?"

"HEY!" Papyrus suddenly seemed curious about something. "I HAVE A QUESTION! DOES YOUR WISH HAVE TO BE FOR YOURSELF?"

"Huh?"

"LIKE... HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING. WHAT IF THERE WAS SOMEONE SUFFERING WORSE THAN ME… AND I MADE A WISH FOR THAT PERSON?"

Flowey wiggled his eyebrows teasingly. "You mean Mettaton?" I gasped, realizing what he meant. Would he really do that?

"WHAT!" Papyrus turned around, fuming. "I SAID HYPOTHETICALLY!"

Flowey sighed, shrugging his petals. "It isn't necessary for the person in the contract to be the target of the wish. It's not like it hasn't happened before, either."

"I-I can't say I like what you're saying though." Alphys admitted. "If you're really considering granting a wish for s-someone else, then it's even m-more important that you pause now to consider what you r-really want. Papyrus… do you really want this wish to come true? Or do you just want him to become... indebted to you?"

"Alphys…" I mumble, deep in thought.

"T-they might sound the same," Alphys noted. "But they're not."

Papyrus paused for a moment to consider before pouting. "THAT WAS MEAN!"

"S-sorry." Alphys smiled sheepishly. "But I had to say that now. I-If you didn't realize it early on, you would probably regret it later. I-I just needed to make sure you were clear on that."

Papyrus continued to stare at her. Then he finally sighed, a look of defeat crossing his features. "I SUPPOSE YOU'RE RIGHT." He narrowed his eyes, thinking. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL HAVE TO THINK DEEPER!"

"I-it's difficult stuff to deal with." Alphys agreed. "You shouldn't just rush it and pick something." I sighed in relief, internally agreeing with Alphys' words. I didn't want to be stuck picking a wish while Papyrus already made his. If he was even going to.

"The sooner the better for me, though." Flowey popped in.

"That won't do." Alphys chided him. "Girls hate guys that pressure them. Anime is proof." The four of us all smiled a bit at the teasing, and the walk back home was a little less uneasy.

* * *

"It's not that simple, is it?" I asked Flowey.

"I can't push you to make any choices." Flowey pointed out. "It's against the rules."

"But…" I sighed, pushing open my book of drawings. "Is just wanting to become one good enough for a wish?"

Flowey frowned, suspicion in his gaze. "Hey Frisk, don't tell me you're just in it for the power."

"What? No!" I hadn't even considered that. But now that I was… "Or… maybe it is. I'm slow, and there isn't really anything good about me. So if I could be as cool and wonderful as Alphys, that would make me more than happy."

Flowey wiggled his eyebrows. "You know, if you become a Magical Monster, you'll be even more powerful than Alphys."

"Huh?" I turned my head around to look at him, trying to see if he was serious, or just trying to convince me to turn into one.

Seeing my expectant gaze, Flowey went on to explain. "Of course, it also depends on what kind of wish you make. But even I can't estimate how large your Soul Gem will be. See," He leaned in, petals almost right next to my face. "I've never met someone with such high potential before."

For a moment, I felt hope gliding into me. In the next moment, I brushed it off. "W-what are you talking about?" I moved to get off from the bed. "You must be joking."

Flowey looked at me like I was stupid. Maybe I was. "No-"

He was interrupted when someone knocked on the door to my room. "Hello, Frisk!" Asgore called, his friendly tone coming through the door. "Can you come help me with something?"

It looked like we were going to have to talk about this another time.

* * *

Papyrus came out the elevator, looking disappointed about something. "HELLO. SORRY FOR THE WAIT."

I was waiting for Papyrus on the bench, sitting with Flowey as I thought about becoming a Magical Monster. "Huh? Didn't you go to see Mettaton?"

Papyrus sighed, shrugging. "I GUESS TODAY WASN'T A GOOD DAY…?" I got up as I walked out the hospital building with him. "AND I CAME ALL THE WAY HERE TOO... MAYBE METTATON IS BUSY WITH HIS FANS. I'M SURE HE'LL HAVE SOME TIME ON A LATER DATE FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

"Uh… sure…?" I stopped when I noticed something weird. It was next to the bike racks, stuck onto the wall. It was small, black, and left cracks all over the white column. It was glowing faintly.

Papyrus finally noticed that I had stopped. "IS SOMETHING WRONG, HUMAN?"

"There's something over there…" I answered, peering closer. The three of us stared at the wall for a couple more moments before it registered in me.

"It's a Grief Seed!" Flowey said for us.

"IT'S ABOUT TO HATCH!" Papyrus yelled, terror crawling its way up his voice.

"No way!" The three of us scampered forward, trying to get a better look. "Of all places, why is there one here?" It was glowing more brightly now, flashing rapidly; like it was about to explode or something. "This is bad. We have to get away from here fast! The barrier will go up soon!"

Papyrus seemed to be deep in thought. "THAT MAZE THING AGAIN?" An idea seemed to spark in him. "FRISK! DO YOU HAVE ALPHYS' PHONE NUMBER?" I shook my head in response. "HUMAN! YOU MUST GO AND FIND HER! I WILL WATCH OVER THE SEED."

"What?" I could feel dread seeping up in me at the realization of his words. "You can't!"

"You idiot! It's too dangerous!" Flowey agreed. For once, he actually seemed decently worried about our well-being. "We still have some time until the witch hatches. But once the barrier goes up, you won't be able to leave! And I doubt Alphys can make it here in time…"

"BUT YOU WON'T KNOW WHERE THE SEED IS WHEN THE MAZE GOES UP!" Papyrus protested, determination glinting in his eyes. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, REFUSE TO LET IT HATCH IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!"

I could tell that Papyrus didn't want the seed to hatch unguarded, at least, not here where Mettaton could be in danger. He would choose to watch over it, no matter what I said.

Seeming to come to a decision, Flowey jumped off my arm to accompany Papyrus. He didn't seem too pleased, but he probably knew that we couldn't change his mind. "Frisk, you go find Alphys. I'll stay with this idiot here. Once you get her here, she'll know where I am with telepathy. Watching over the seed with Papyrus will allow me to guide Alphys right to us."

Papyrus grinned with gratefulness. "NYEH!"

There was nothing left for me to do but agree, no matter how much I disliked the idea. "A-alright! I'll hurry and get Alphys as fast as I can." Dropping my bag, I ran.

* * *

By the time I found Alphys and brought her back, Papyrus and Flowey were already nowhere to be seen. The crack on the wall was still there, but the Grief Seed was gone as well. Where had they all gone?

"It-s h-here, right?" I nodded, and Alphys moved on to raise her hand up to the cracked wall. A large diamond-shaped design suddenly sprang up through the wall, and Alphys' words rung through my head. "Flowey, what's going on?"

"We're good for now!" His voice replied. "There's no signs that it's going to hatch right away."

Realizing that we were using telepathy, I went on to ask, "Papyrus! Are you ok?"

His hearty laugh rang through my head. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS OK! IN FACT, I AM ABOUT TO FALL ASLEEP OF BOREDOM!"

I laughed lightly, then quietly added a, "...Please don't."

"It'd be worse to simulate the egg by using a lot of magic next to it." Flowey informed us. "You don't need to hurry. Could you just come as calmly as possible?"

"G-got it." Alphys replied. Then nodding to me, the two of us stepped through the diamond design to enter the witch's labyrinth, leaving the opening closed behind us.

Inside was just as strange as I remembered, though the designs were slightly different. Random numbers lines the walls. We were surrounded by fences made of needles and bottles and tranquilizers of medicine. Random tables and portraits lay here and there, adding to the decorative quality of the maze. Trying to ignore the scissors and candy, Alphys led me on through the dark caverns.

"I'm glad we made it in time."

Alphys sighed. "I'd like to get mad at you guys for taking too many risks, but I admit this was the best choice this time. Now we don't have to worry about the witch getting-" She suddenly paused as she looked back, anger painted onto her gaze. Confused, I turned around and saw the last person I would expect to see.

"Sans?!"

"I thought I said I didn't want to see you again." Alphys huffed angrily. Nonetheless, the skeleton continued to approach us, his pupils darting around warily. He was smiling, but even that was slightly stretched.

"I'll take down the prey this time." He said dismissively. "You two, withdraw."

"I can't do that!" Alphys protested. "We need to get Papyrus and Flowey."

Sans lowered his head, like he was trying to think up of a compromise. "I promise they won't get hurt."

"You think I'd trust _you_?" With no warning, she raised her arm and motioned her hand at the skeleton. Suddenly, thick red ribbons with golden chain designs sprung from the ground, wrapping the skeleton up like a tight present. A red ribbon now adorned his front. My eyes widened at the scenario, and I wondered if this was the right thing to do, despite how scary he was.

The skeleton struggled, fury burning in his eyes. His grin looked strained. "Kid, now's _not_ the time for this!"

"I don't plan on letting you get hurt." Alphys responded simply. "But if you struggle too much, I-I can't promise that won't happen."

Seeming to realize that fighting would do no good, the skeleton started to talk it out. "This witch is in a different class from the others so far." He warned, an edge in his voice.

Alphys didn't seem to be listening. "If you sit still, I'll let you out on the way back. Let's go, Frisk." Alphys beckoned to me before turning around to continue.

"Wait!-" The skeleton was interrupted as the ribbons pulled him tighter. He silently seethed under his teeth, like he was trying to figure out what to do. Was this really alright? I shook my head, deciding to trust Alphys. Casting one last worried glance at him, I turned around to catch up with my friend, leaving Sans behind.

* * *

There were more food items decorating the cave now, though none of them looked appealing, despite their appearances of cake and candy. Little eyeball monsters squeaked as they ran around, and Alphys and I ducked behind a abnormally large cracker to avoid them.

Once they were gone, I followed her to a pink door. She pushed it open before leading me in, grasping my hand. Looking around, I found all types of bottles for prescription medicine floating in the air. Some were glass, some were plastic. I couldn't tell how they stayed up. Otherwise, the room was completely dark.

"Uh… Alphys?

"Yes?"

"I thought about my wish a lot, and…"

"D-do you know what to pick?"

"Yes." I decided. "But I think you might get mad at me for not thinking hard enough."

"W-well?" She inquired, her voice soft. "What is it?"

I sighed, wondering how I should explain it. "I've never had a subject I was good at, or a skill that I could be proud of. I've always kept thinking about my inability to accomplish anything, while just causing problems for people."

Alphys leads me through another pink door, displaying an entire new room full of more doors and food. There were cheeses, donuts, lollipops, nurse faces, and pretty lights hanging from the ceiling.

I shake my head, trying not to get too distracted by the new sights. "But then I met you, Alphys. You showed me what it was like to fight and save people." We continued down a bridge lined with red wire. Candles illuminated the way. "You told me I might be able to do the same thing. It made me happier than anything… So if I could become a magic monster," I gulp. "That would be my wish."

Alphys suddenly shook my hold off, letting go of my hand. "I-it's hard, you know?" Her voice was tense, like she was upset. "You get hurt, and you don't have time to fall in love or hang out with friends."

"B-but!" I protested, feeling the idea come alive within me. "I really want to be like you after seeing you try so hard despite all that."

Alphys has stopped walking now. "Y-you shouldn't want to be like me." There was disdain and nervousness in her voice. "I-I'm just trying to act cool. No matter how scary or hard it is, I can't talk to anyone about it. I-I…" She sniffled a little. "I've just been lying the whole time, you see? Being a magic monster isn't good at all." Looking broken, she lifts her hands up to her glasses and looks away to hide her face.

I watched her warily, trying to understand how she felt. She was showing her true side now. Not everything was cool and easy for her as a Magical Monster. She had been hiding her true feelings the whole time…

"But you're not alone anymore, Alphys." I step up, trying to reach for her.

"I… I guess you're right." She suddenly turns around and grabs both of my hands. Surprised at the gesture, I stare into her hope-filled eyes. "Will you really fight with me from now on? W-will you stay by my side?"

"Y-yes!" I replied with certainty. "If you're really okay with someone like me."

Small tears of happiness trailed down her face. Alphys hurried to wipe them away. "Y-you really got me there. A-and, I still need to be a teacher for you, too. This is just like an anime! A-And I…" She smiles hopefully at me. "I guess I'm really not that great after all, haha..."

"Alphys…" My eyes open in surprise, watching yellow circles danced around us.

"But since you have the chance, you should think of something for your wish." Alphys insisted.

"Since I have a chance?" I scratch my head uneasily. "I guess you have a point..." There was no use putting a wish to waste, right?

"I-it _is_ a contract. So you might as well get something out of it." Alphys shrugged. "Maybe make yourself rich, or get yourself a really hot boyfriend… anything goes!"

I smiled sheepishly. "That's not really…"

"W-well, how about this then?" Alphys leaned forward to give me a suggestion, "If you haven't thought of a wish by the time we've taken out the witch, then how about you get Flowey to treat us to a big party with cake and chips? W-with unlimited anime!"

"A-anime?" I echoed.

"Y-yeah! The biggest, bestest anime party you've ever seen! We can celebrate with everyone about you and me joining together as a Magical Monster team." She turned around, a satisfied smile tugging at her mouth.

I felt slightly exasperated. "I'm going to become a Magical Monster for anime?"

"W-well, if you don't like it, come up with something yourself!"

"Oh…" I moved to follow her, sighing. Anime really was a stretch… but it wasn't like I had any better ideas. Maybe I would do just that.

Suddenly, the telepathy was back. "Alphys!" Flowey called out urgently, "The Grief Seed has begun to move. It's started to hatch. Hurry!"

"O-okay! Got it. We'll take care of this fast today." Her voice was determined. In the next moment, she had stretched her arm out before transforming into her Magical Monster costume. It was beautiful. Sensing her presence, the eyeball monsters started to erupt from below the bridge, lining the walls in neat rows.

Alphys jumped down, remote guns appearing behind her as she plopped onto the ground. Summoning a few more to float in the air around her, she then went on to expertly spin a remote on her clawtip before aiming it confidently at multiple monsters. She hit, shot, and kicked all the ones that came her way with accurate precision, not gaining a single scratch. It was like a really pretty dance, but with her life on the line.

A few more twirls, and she summoned more guns from herself. The eyeball monsters she shot all turned to little flowers. She went on to leap from object to object, landing on buildings and firing cannons.

When she was finally finished with her little spree, she came back down to join me. With delight on her face, she pulled me along in the whiteness of the corridor. After passing some cupcakes and desserts with forks stuck in them, we finally met a brown door. In front, it said "Chocolate Flavor," which made me suspect the door was made of chocolate.

We pushed through, and was immediately met with a huge sweets graveyard. It was a huge clearing, but with colorful candies and cakes of all sorts scattered among the place. Some were embedded into the ground, and all of them were huge; giant sized. For some reason, there were also many chairs and tables, and they would've been normal if it were not for the fact that they had _extremely_ long legs, stretching all the way up to the ceiling.

Finding Papyrus and Flowey hiding behind a donut, we hurried to join them. "S-sorry for the wait!" Alphys announced.

"YOU MADE IT!" Papyrus sighed in relief.

"At least you idiots managed to do something right." Flowey suddenly paused as his gaze diverted to the middle of the room. "Watch out." He warns us. "It's coming out."

With Flowey's command, we turn our attention to the center of the clearing. There, a huge white goop was dripping down the ceiling. Under the goop was one of the tall tables, and upon the table was a single box of candies, glittering in the darkness. In the next moment, the box exploded, only to reveal a tiny little monster. He floated around a bit before coming to a stop to sit on one of the tall chairs.

Although we were far away, I could pick up some details on the witch. It looked like a plush toy, pink and squishy. It had ears shaped like an elephant's. Blankets seemed to be wrapped around its head like a garment. Compared to all the other witches, this one seemed like nothing. It seemed simply too cute to destroy anything, much less be a threat.

The next moment, he had toppled off the chair. Wondering what had happened, I looked to the bottom to see that Alphys was already there, fighting!

"Sorry for attacking right after you hatched." She apologized, not seeming sorry at all. "But I'm ending this now!" With the witch doll falling out the sky, Alphys hit it with a lollipop stick like a baseball. With the impact, it soared over the clearing before splatting against the wall on the other side. A home run. This witch definitely wasn't intimidating.

As it popped off the wall, Alphys shot another hole through its center. "H-here I go!" She then went on to shoot multiple shots at it, some missing, a couple hitting its target. Seeming defeated, it flopped uselessly onto the ground. Alphys stepped up to it before pointing a single remote to its head. She fired a final shot, and dust was stirred before she stepped away.

Then the witch rose with thin tendrils of yellow, and small flowers fell from its body. I recognized those flowers. Those were the ones that appeared after the death of the other monsters in the labyrinth. But weren't witches supposed to be hard? This one had been so easy…

Papyrus seemed to realize the meaning of the flowers too. "SHE DID IT!" He celebrated.

Alphys smiled smugly before charging up her gun for one final blow. " _Trio Finale_!" She shouted, a huge remote appearing in her hands once again. It was large as a cannon, and as intimidating as a final move could be. With a quick slap on the button and her final shot, it managed to pierce the witch straight through the chest. The ribbon of the shot wrapped around the witch, and something suddenly squeezed out of its mouth.

It was something else... another witch! A huge black creature, long like a snake, rising out of the original witch's mouth. It had red spots, and a white clown face, two red and blue wings on the top of its head. It leaned towards Alphys, a sinister grin plastered on its face. Then it opened its jaws wide, showing a whole row of sharp white teeth as he leaned over Alphys' head.

All of us gasped at the sight, and before Alphys could even react, it was over.

Blood was spurting everywhere. The bone-white table was now covered with scarlet red. Her body fell to the ground in a limpless pile before the witch went on to devour her whole, wriggling in satisfaction at its meal.

 _Drip, drip._

I couldn't move. I was in shock, frozen with terror. Papyrus and I both stood still with fear as we watched in horror, seeing the witch eat our precious friend. All we could do was watch.

 _Drip, drip._

"You two!" Flowey turned to us, growling slightly. "Hurry up and make a contract with me!" Papyrus and I couldn't move, couldn't think. We clung to each other like it was the end of the world, not understanding what was happening. Flowey seemed to get annoyed at our ignorance. "Frisk! Papyrus!" He snapped.

The witch had finished, and was now facing our way, a greedy look on its face. Papyrus and I both gasped as we realized we were going to be its next meal.

"Decide on your wishes!" Flowey commanded, terror edging his voice. "Hurry!"

"There'll be need for that." A low voice suddenly rang out, echoing around the cavern. It was much too familiar. Seeming confused, Flowey turned his head around to see the intruder. Papyrus and I followed suit.

It was Sans. Somehow, he had managed to escape his own ribbon prison and was now here. Leaping with agile grace, he cleared the room in one jump before landing on a tall table. One that stood right next to the long witch. "I'll take 'em out."

Seeing new prey, the witch eagerly turned around to face the skeleton. Before we could even react, he had already chomped his jaws over the table, swallowing it whole. I was just wondering if he had got Sans when I saw him, standing on another table not too far away. Eyeing them with disbelief, I watched as Sans casually hopped onto another table. He turned to face the witch, a teasing look in his eyesockets.

Looking upset, the witch then went on to swallow the table Sans was standing on. Pride glowed on his face, that is, until he saw him smiling mischievously on top another one. Looking disbelieving, the witch ate that table too, only to see him still standing on a different table.

It was amazing how he did it. Every time the witch ate a table, Sans always seemed to be in his jaws, just to appear on top of another, like he never got swallowed at all. I wasn't sure whether to feel anxious or amazed. The witch seemed especially annoyed now, eyeing Sans with disdain. He only replied with a stuck-out tongue. It was a light blue, cyan-colored.

The witch brightened with an idea. It then swerved around, hoping to catch Sans by surprise from behind. Showing its own dark blue tongue, it swiped across a table, taking something along with it. Before I could wonder what it was, his mouth seemed to explode. A depressed expression crossing its face, it limped to the side as smoke curled out of its mouth.

Had Sans put a bomb on the witch's tongue?!

It laid there limply for a moment more before items around the room started to get flung in the witch's direction. They all strangely resembled bones, outlined in a light blue. Was this all Sans' attack? Looking afraid, the witch tried to avoid them, only seeming to get hit more. With every impact came an explosion, almost as if every object was infused with bombs. It tried snaking its way past them, but it was inevitable to get hit.

I finally found Sans in the center of the room, standing upon one of the tall chairs. Shaking with rage, the witch turned to him one last time. But before he could even manage to do anything, one last bomb blew into him through the side, and he exploded into a mess of flames and clouds. Shreds and parts of him flew around the room, proving his death.

Sans huffed before hopping off the chair and striding in our direction. He had made the whole fight look so easy. It made Alphys' work look like child's play. It had made Alphys' attempts look useless. I could feel Papyrus tense up next to me, trying to anticipate what would occur next.

"So you two managed to escape with your lives then, huh?" He paused right before he reached our donut hiding place. I wondered what he was waiting for, until I heard a clinking from one of the tables in the center of the clearing. Looking more closely, I realized that red was still falling from the center table. It was blood.

 _Drip, drip._

"Burn this moment into your eyes." He advises, an aura of danger seeping off of him. "That's what happens when you become a Magical Monster." His gaze was turned sideways at us, like he couldn't bear to look us both directly with the two of his eye sockets.

The world wavered around us, only to bring back the old setting of the buildings in the real world. A single grief seed dropped from the air, presumably the witch's, and it landed on the ground. Sans bent down to pick it up, staring at it with an intense gaze.

"PLEASE GIVE THAT BACK." I turned in surprise to see that Papyrus was actually crying. Seeing his demanding tone, Sans turned and slowly strided in his direction, a wary look in his eye. "GIVE IT BACK!" Papyrus repeated, sorrow and anger building its way up in him. I rarely ever saw him angry. "THAT… THAT BELONGS TO ALPHYS!"

I suddenly realized that Sans wasn't walking to Papyrus. He was actually walking past him, completely ignoring him. After a moment though, he sighed and turned to him. "These are for Magic Monsters." He pointed out factually, "which means you two have no right to touch one." Shrugging, he then moved on to stride past us, leaving us behind to our own troubled thoughts.

Papyrus continued to sob, all anger gone. I myself couldn't even react. I couldn't even think. I could only sit still and cry silently, tears trailing down my cheeks.

* * *

 **And we finally get some Sans action! xD yAYa!**


	5. There're such things as miracles & magic

I stare at the fried egg on my plate, barely seeing it, only hearing one name repeating in my mind.

Alphys.

She was so nice. She always had such good intentions for us. She was always trying to help us. She was so strong. The way she battled witches effortlessly, I still remembered it. But, she had just been so lonely. She had went through so much. She had so much to live for. I still remember her face. Somewhat shy, but confident all the same. That's what I loved about her. But now, there was nothing left. Just like that, our bravest friend was...

"Frisk?" I was suddenly brought out of my memories when Toriel called my name. "My child, you must hurry and eat, or else you won't make it in time for school."

"Y-yeah…" I took another forkful of breakfast, barely containing more tears.

"Are…" Asgore paused hesitantly when he saw my mood. "Child, are you alright? Is… the food bad?"

I sniffed a little, wiping my eyes. "No, it's good. It's really good." I smiled, hoping not to worry them. "Because I'm alive, I get to experience Dad's great cooking…"

* * *

"So… I um… told him…" Napstablook was talking to us on the way to school, trying to get rid of the tension. But even he himself was starting to get distant. I wasn't even following the situation, not exactly knowing the topic of the discussion. But at least Napsta was making an effort to talk to us.

Flowey was walking with us, paws moving forward at a steady pace. Sighing, I used telepathy to speak with Papyrus. "Hey Papyrus." I gulped. "About yesterday…"

"A MOMENT, HUMAN!" He replied, then hesitated before adding, "SORRY. JUST... EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NEED TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS." He hurried to catch up to Napstablook, who was floating a little ways ahead of us now.

"It was… so weird…" He mumbled, quietly continuing with his speech.

"KIND OF." Papyrus replied, and I could tell he was trying to contribute to the conversation while putting a light tone into his voice. He was still trying his best, despite all this. If only I could do the same.

* * *

"Although spiders look like insects, they are actually arachnids." Muffet tapped the board with her stick, teaching the class about spiders. "Don't get that mixed up, dearies. Also, did you know that they live on all continents except for Antarctica? They are everywhere. Which also means we have delicious pastries on almost every continent!~"

I listened quietly, honestly not really really listening. How _could_ we listen to this, even after all we've been through? Wondering how Papyrus was faring, I turned around to look at him. Unlike his usual happy attitude, he was now simply quiet, a neutral thinking expression on his face. I wasn't sure what to make of that.

* * *

The sun shone from above, the clouds failing to block it, but floating around it like they were trying to avoid it. We were at the top of the school building again, but this time, our moods were obviously low. Papyrus and I sat in the silence, gazing out at the sky, and watching birds chirp and fly. It was a beautiful day outside, but we were to upset to play. We were each in our own thoughts, dozing off on our own thoughts and depressions.

Only Flowey seemed unaffected. He only stared at us curiously, tail bobbing.

I decided to finally break the silence, and to voice my own thoughts. "It… kind of feels like we're in a different country now." Everything always continued normally, like nothing had happened.

"YEAH." Papyrus agreed forlornly. "SCHOOL, AND METTATON… NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE YESTERDAY."

"It feels like I'm surrounded by strangers." I admit quietly.

"NOBODY KNOW'S WHAT WE KNOW." Papyrus sighs. "NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT WITCHES OR ALPHYS. JUST US. IT'S LIKE… WE'RE IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD FROM EVERYONE ELSE!"

"Papyrus…"

"IT HAS ALL CHANGED A LONG TIME AGO. EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHOULD HAVE REALIZED IT SOONER." We sat in a pensive silence for a moment, until Papyrus turned to me, a questioning gaze in his eye. "HUMAN? DO YOU... STILL WANT TO BECOME A MAGICAL MONSTER?"

I gasped a little at the question before turning my head down in shame. Papyrus seemed to understand my response, and nodded a little. "THAT MAKES SENSE." He put one of his gloved hands on my shoulder to comfort me.

"I know it's not fair." I trembled. "It's really selfish for me to back out now. But… I just can't…" The tears were back again. I hiccuped a little. "Just remembering how she died, I… I can't even breathe. I-I'm so scared." I looked down into my lap, trying to ignore the pitiful gaze Papyrus was giving me. I could remember Alphys' death perfectly. The suddenness, the blood… I didn't want that. "I-I _hate_ this." I cried, shaking my head. Papyrus moved forward to embrace me. I didn't protest.

"ALPHYS… WAS REALLY KIND. AS AN EXAMPLE OF RESOLVE THAT WE NEEDED TO FIGHT, SHE…" He took a deep breath, not continuing. I cried a little onto his shoulder.

"HEY, FLOWEY?" Papyrus turned to the flower-animal, sitting not too far away, and just watching the whole commotion like it was no one's business. "WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS CITY? WHO WILL PROTECT EVERYONE FROM WITCHES NOW?"

"Well…" Flowey readjusted his paws, tails swinging a bit more. "This _has_ been Alphys' territory for a while. If there's no one here, then the other Magical Monsters will act. Others hunting for witches will come soon enough."

"BUT ARE THEY ONLY HERE FOR THE GRIEF SEEDS?" Papyrus lowered his head with sadness. "LIKE THAT TRANSFER STUDENT?" I wanted to correct Papyrus on the name of the student, but I figured there was no need to.

"True, Alphys was a rare breed. Usually, you wouldn't put yourself in danger so much if you hadn't anything to gain from it. Everyone wants to be rewarded for their hard work, after all. But hey," He wiggled his eyebrows at us. "I think only another Magical Monster can really criticize to that." We stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. It was not a funny joke. Flowey only shrugs at our expressions, a hopeless look on his face. "Hey, I understand how you two feel. It sure is unfortunate… but I can't pressure you into it." He looks to the sky, a thoughtful gaze in his eye. "So I'm guessing this is it. I need to search again for monsters that _actually_ need my contract."

I look away in shame, realizing he was about to leave us. "I'm sorry, Flowey."

"Whatever." Flowey started to get up, moving along with his paws. "It was a short while, but I'll admit I had fun." As if it were an afterthought, he added a, "...and thanks." Then he padded away, leaving just me and Papyrus to sit alone on the cold stone seat.

I took a shaky breath, whispering, "I'm sorry…"

* * *

I walked out of Alphys' old apartment building, only to see a familiar skeleton waiting for me outside. "Sans?..." What was he doing here? I quickly wiped the wetness from my eyes, trying to hide my distress.

Sans sighs before stepping up to me. "You're blaming yourself too much for this, kiddo."

"H-huh?"

"There's no one that can criticize you for your choices. If there _was_ someone, however…" His expression turned serious. "I'd never forgive them." Confused at his angry tone, I tilt my head at him. "So. You took my advice, huh?"

I nod a little bit. "Yeah... I guess."

* * *

"If only I had listened to you sooner…" I sigh. The two of us were walking down the long bridge alone, talking about the circumstances.

"That still wouldn't have changed Alphys' fate." Sans points out quickly. "But hey, you were still able to change your own. And I…" He looked down at the ground. "I'm happy I could save at least one person."

I tilt my head a little in curiosity. "H-hey, Sans?" I ask, remembering how he had dealt with the witch from before. "You seem like a veteran, but in a different way from Alphys." Alphys was the type that seemed to handle things expertly, but Sans just always seemed to know what he was doing. He had navigated the battle so easily. Not in a pro way, but with a certain knowingness about him that I couldn't quite place.

"Heh, that might be true." He shrugs a little. "I ain't denyin' it."

I scrunched up my face with thought. "Have you seen a lot of people… die? Like yesterday?"

Sans' expression turned dark. "...yep." He replied after a moment.

"...how many?" I dared to ask.

"'Nuff to give up counting." He answers stiffly.

I wasn't sure how to respond. So instead, I thought back to Alphy's lab-like apartment, still sitting there all alone. A mess waiting on her desk, never to be cleaned. Her books and plants, never to be touched. The whole room, never to be visited again by its now-dead owner. "I wonder if her room will stay like that forever?..."

"Alphys only had distant relatives." Sans answers dismissively. "It'll be quite a while before people realize she's gone."

"No one…" I gulped. "Will realize that she died?" It seemed like such an impossibility. Such a kind, amazing person like Alphys would surely be noticed if she had gone missing, right?

"It's just how it is." He shrugged. "If someone dies in there, there's no corpse left behind. She'll be forever missing from this world. _That_ is what happens to Magical Monsters in the end. All of 'em."

So… that's how it was. I stopped, suddenly unsure about where and how to go along. Was it better that I hadn't become one myself? If I had, I would only have become fated to die in a witch's lair, never to be seen again… "That's horrible."

Sans seemed to notice I had stopped. He slowly turned around, giving me an uneasy stare. Like he was analyzing what was wrong with me.

"Alphys fought alone to protect everybody, but no one even realized it?... That's terrible." I repeated.

"That's the contract we made. To receive this power." Sans shrugs. "It's not just for anyone else. You gotta keep fighting for the wish you made. If no one notices, and if no one remembers you… then that's just how it is."

"I'll remember." I promised. "I won't ever forget Alphys. I'll never forget!"

"...I see." Sans turned away from me again, the edge of his grin twisting into a bitter smile. "Alphys is lucky to have someone who thinks that way. It's enough to make me _jealous_. Heh." A dark shadow crossed his features, and I wondered what he was worried about.

"I-I won't forget you either!" I protested. "I-I'll never forget how you saved us yesterday!" I stopped my outburst when I realized Sans wasn't reacting to my words. In fact, he only seemed more depressed. "...Sans?"

He move his face away, gaze hardened. "You're too kind."

"H-huh?"

"Kid." He moved back to face me, eye sockets dark. "Don't forget that kindness can sometimes bring forth even greater sadness." The shadows covered half of his face, making his message seem even more mysterious.

I was certainly confused, but the aura he gave off left me in wonderment. Making a half-hearted wave, he sauntered off, leaving me to my own troubled thoughts. What in the world had he meant by those words?

* * *

I walked home slowly, wondering if the whole problem was being caused by my own ignorance. "I think if we just talked, we could become friends with Sans…" I sigh, stepping down the cobblestone, putting one foot in front of the other. "I wonder why he ended up fighting with Alphys, anyway…?" I suddenly stop when I noticed someone familiar up ahead. "Huh?"

Down the street plaza, I saw Napstablook floating. He looked dazed. What was he doing here? Deciding to see what he was up to, I ran in his direction. He didn't turn to me. Trying to catch up to him and to get his attention, I yelled out, "Hey Napsta! Weren't you going to make music today or something?..." I stopped once I noticed something familiar next to his headphone. A witch's kiss.

I stopped right in my tracks, remembering the first time I had seen that mark. That had not ended up well. Feeling dread seep into me, I ran right in front of him, waving my arms frantically. "Napsta? Napstablook!" I tried to stop him, but he almost went right through me.

"Nice day…" He murmured, drifting forwards slowly.

"Napstablook?" I turned back to him, trying to get his attention. "What's wrong? W-where are you trying to go?"

"Somewhere…" He mumbled, not turning around to face me. "...better…"

"Napstablook?..."

He continued to speak, but almost in a giddy way that was unlike him. "Come with… or, you don't have to… heh." Confused, I decided I had no choice but to follow him from behind, wondering what in the world I could do to stop or save him, if he was even heading towards danger. I just couldn't leave my friend to go charging into danger alone.

Eventually, other people and monsters started to emerge, each with a witch's kiss implanted on their neck. They all seemed to be heading in the same direction, moving in little groups or parades, and sauntering forwards like they couldn't think for themselves. The whole thing screamed danger. Feeling jittery at the lack of light, I continued through the dark as I followed the crowd.

I felt uncertain. There was nothing I could do. Only a Magical Monster could solve this predicament. I wasn't one, and Alphys was gone. If only I could get ahold of Sans now… but I couldn't. I didn't know his phone number, or have any ways of contacting him. I had no choice but to keep going.

The group eventually reached a large creepy building, which they all entered. I joined them hesitantly, wondering what they were planning. The inside seemed to be some kind of old abandoned factory, shut down due to some reason I didn't know of. Listening, I heard them whispering to themselves. About how they were worthless. About how they couldn't do anything right. And about how there was no place in the world for them anymore.

Then taking turns, they each stepped up to fill buckets with a kind of clear liquid from bottles they had brought on their own. They were packaged in white plastic. I suddenly remembered what they were, from advice Toriel had given me long ago.

" _Listen, my child." Toriel had said, showing me the white bottles. "You must handle these bottles of magic solution properly, or it may cause terrible things to happen." She had shaken her head, only looking very grave. "Monster magic is not to be messed with. Too much in the wrong place is incredibly dangerous. So my child, please be careful with these, yes?"_

I stared at the buckets full of the dangerous substances, and I suddenly understood what they were planning. "N-no!" I gasped. "Y-you can't do that!" I ran forward, trying to reach the buckets, but someone floated in front of me to stop me.

It was Napstablook. "No… interruptions…" He informed me. "Holy… ritual…"

"B-but!" I protested. "It's dangerous! Everyone here might die!"

"That's right…" Napstablook smiled eerily, and I was suddenly scared of him. "We're all going… to another world…" He smiled, a tear glistening from under his eyes. "How wonderful…"

"Napstablook? T-this isn't like you at all!"

"No holding back… don't worry, you'll understand soon…" I could only watch in horror as the other people in the building clapped along to the speech. They all seemed to be in agreement.

But only I was in objection. Gritting my teeth, I ran through the crowd, ignoring their shocked stares. In one swift movement, I had picked up the bucket of dangerous liquid and thrown it out the window, breaking some glass in the process. The shards bounced on the floor, making clinking sounds. I had done it. I had saved all these lives. I huffed in success.

But now the life in question was mine. I heard a thud behind me, and looking back, I watched the angry crowd advance upon me. Feeling frantic, I tried to force the window open, but it didn't budge. Creeping along the edge of the wall, I bumped into a door knob. Not having any other choice, I ducked behind the door and shut it closed quickly, locking it. The angry mob continued to bang on the door, but it held.

I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that I had survived or to start panicking over what to do next. I looked around the room, searching for an exit. I seemed to be in a simple storage room. The walls were made of wood, and a pile of crates were stacked in the corner. But there was no escapes whatsoever.

"What… what to do?..." I backed away from the door, only to stop when I heard a squeaky voice behind me. Yelping, I turned around, finding a mysterious blue cloud, whom seemed to be advancing on me. What in the world was it? It continued to speak squeakily, but in a language I couldn't comprehend. It sounded excited for something.

A witch. "N-no!" I gulped, finding myself backed up against the crates. First crazy mobs of people, and now this? "This can't be happening!"

But it was. Suddenly, rows of TV screens turned on, blared in front of me while showing hazy circles of purples and blues, like a hypnotizing design. Little monsters with wings and halos came crawling out from the TV's, latching onto me. It took me a moment to realize that I needed to struggle, but it was already too late.

There was too many of them. They were like bugs, clambering all over me and squeaking excitedly. "N-no!" I tried shaking them off my arm, but they stuck to me like glue. "Someone save me!" Blue bubbles popped out from nowhere, and then I felt myself lose form.

Literally. My body seemed to fall apart, splitting into little pieces of jello. Green and yellow sparks flew around the room, sparkling and bright. Blinking my eyes open, I realized that I was back together, and in a completely different place. I was floating in the center of a long cylindrical room, colored like the ocean. Movie stripes lined the walls, and they spun around the cylinder in dizzying circles. I tried to regain my composure, but only seemed to drift down deeper into the endless ocean-colored depths.

Two winged monsters approached, a single winged TV between them. It displayed images of angels, hearts, and little girls like me. Gasping, I watched as the movie strips around me turned to circus carousels, gliding swiftly around me. I was turned in so many directions, I could barely tell which way was up anymore. Things started to spin faster, the edges of my vision turning green. Suddenly, the angel monsters were sitting upon the carousel, riding to their hearts content. Some of them had TV heads. Some of the TV's were riding the horses.

And that's when I saw it. Upon every TV was a video of Alphys. Or at least, my memory of her. In some videos, she was smiling. In others, she was fighting. But she was always vigilant, in every single one.

I felt sad, but didn't cry. I couldn't help but wonder if this was a punishment of some sort. I was almost positive that this had happened because of my weakness… because I was a liar. I watched more video memories playing through the TV's. I watched Alphys holding my hands in delight. I watched her get eaten by the long witch again. Surely… this is why I was getting punished, right?

A screen flew down next to my face, displaying a reflection like a mirror. Except in the reflection, I had a maniacal grin. As my reflection laughed at me in hysterical giggles, a couple of angels came down to play with me. They wanted to make some fun with me before the got rid of me. The monsters tugged on my arms and legs until they stretched like rubber bands. I could be compared to a starfish now. I grimaced, pain flashing searingly through my limbs, but couldn't find myself to complain.

But then suddenly, the four angels were obliterated, each sliced through with a blue slash of light. My limbs bounced back into me, returning to their proper length. Feeling nerve-wracked and regaining my proper form, I watched as the TV in front of me blew up into pieces. My gaze felt disoriented. Confused, I tried to find my savior. My eyes widened when I saw the cape and the blue uniform.

"P-Papyrus?!"

It was Papyrus in his very own Magical Monster uniform. A wicked-looking bone sword was in his hand, its tip sharp and pointed. Rainbow tendrils waved off from his direction, and he turned, putting his focus on the enemies. Another TV popped up, shoving out more angel monsters. They giggled as they approached Papyrus, but he expertly cut them off, each of their limbs falling off as they got hit. They fell apart like toy dolls. Papyrus continued to swing his bone sword, dust swirling around him. More and more came, but he handled each with deep concentration.

All the angel monsters were gone. I turned to the TV, trying to see if it would summon more. I had barely seen it, but in the next moment, Papyrus had charged up from behind. Swinging his weapon in a well-planned maneuver, he beat down on the winged TV, sending it flying up into the blue depths of the cylinder maze.

"THIS IS THE END!" He proclaimed, making a final swing. The attack was so quick, so bright, I could barely see it. The TV was sent flying towards the ground, and hit the ground with a satisfying crunch, black ink spraying out from its back. The carousels and move scripts fell as well, landing with heavy clunks. The whole labyrinth was falling apart now, floating down like a wave about to crash.

The world wavered around us before disappearing, leaving me back in the the storage room. I stared at Papyrus in awe, watching as he grinned in satisfaction.

When he noticed my gaze, he nervously lowered his sword. "SORRY ABOUT THAT, HUMAN!" He scratched the back of his head apologetically, but was still grinning. "THAT WAS CERTAINLY A CLOSE ONE!"

"Papyrus…" I looked down at his uniform, frowning. "You're wearing…"

"NYEH?" Realization popped onto his face, and he smiled sheepishly. "LET'S JUST SAY I HAD A… CHANGE OF HEART." Seeing my worried expression, he waved it off. "IT'S FINE! I DID FINE ON MY FIRST TIME FOR THE JOB, AFTER ALL! YOU CAN'T EXPECT ANY LESS FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

I was still shocked, despite his reassurances. "But…" I stopped when I heard footsteps from behind. Turning, Papyrus and I saw him.

"You." Sans stood atop the debris, giving us a cold glare.

"NYEH." Papyrus replied defiantly. "YOU'RE PRETTY _LATE_ , IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF." I looked between the two, not sure what to say or who to side with.

Sans only continued to stare at us, a completely unreadable expression on his face.

* * *

 **Yeah, I combined the chapters cuz they were too short. :P**


	6. There's no way I regret anything

The bell rang to signify the end of class. Papyrus and I were at Napstblook's table to talk. "Oh… sorry…" The ghost apologized after a yawn. I had noticed throughout the entire day, he had been more tired than usual.

"What are you apologizing for?" I frowned.

The ghost seemed to shrink in on himself. "...problems…"

Of course, Papyrus and I knew exactly what had happened the day before, but we still had to pretend for the sake of not blowing our cover. "WHAT HAPPENED?"

Napstablook was covering himself up so small, he was starting to look like a little ball. We could barely see his face. "Sleep… walking?..."

"NYEH?" Papyrus remarked, confusion on his gaze. He was a good actor.

Fortunately, Napstablook unravelled himself a bit. "Collective… hallucination…" He put his head down on the table with worry. "But exams…" He mumbled worriedly.

"Then why did you come to school?"

"Not actually… sick…"

"You sound sick." I commented.

"THAT IS VERY BRAVE OF YOU!" Papyrus laughed, attempting to give Napstablook a slap on the back. One look from him proved that he didn't want that, and Papyrus laughed heartily. I didn't get how he could be so happy after devoting himself to become Magical Monster.

Sans was watching on a nearby table, hands in pockets. His expression was of disapproval. So the two of us seemed to agree.

* * *

The grass was green, and the windmills turned.

Papyrus stretched his arms out, seeming to relish in the good weather. "IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I FELT THIS GREAT!" He proclaimed. "I FEEL WONDERFUL!"

I was sitting on the grass next to Papyrus, but not lying down like him. I wanted to tease him, but my worry got the better of me. "Papyrus… aren't you scared?"

"NYEH? OF COURSE NOT! WELL..." After seeing my face of doubt though, he admitted, "OK. MAYBE A LITTLE BIT. BUT! YESTERDAY'S WITCH WAS EASY! BUT JUST THINKING ABOUT LOSING SOMEONE IMPORTANT… I THINK THAT IS MUCH SCARIER! EVEN FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

I nodded, kinda getting what he was saying. But it was still frightening to think about. He suddenly got up, showing me a bright orange gem in the palm of his gloved hand. His Soul Gem. "I AM MORE CONFIDENT NOW! I FEEL SO AT EASE… I FEEL LIKE CONGRATULATING MYSELF! IN FACT…" He stood up, waving his arms around happily. "I, THE GREAT MAGICAL MONSTER PAPYRUS, WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO PROTECT EBBOT CITY!"

Wow. I wasn't sure whether to celebrate with Papyrus or to wail from fear. "So you don't regret anything at all?" I asked.

"WELL. IF THERE WAS ONE THING I REGRETTED…" He sighed. "IT WOULD BE FROM HESITATING IN THE FIRST PLACE." Confused, I looked to him for an explanation. "IF I WAS GOING TO BECOME A MAGICAL MONSTER ANYWAY, THEN I SHOULD'VE DECIDED SOONER!"

I realized what he was going for, and ducked my head down. Papyrus came to sit down next to me, his voice quieter. "IF WE HAD FOUGHT THE WITCH TOGETHER, ALPHYS MIGHT NOT HAVE DIED."

"I…" I could understand what Papyrus meant now. If only he had been back there to help Alphys fight the witch, then she might still be alive now. Talking and smiling with us. Maybe if only I had decided on a wish sooner, I could've become a Magical Monster too. Then all three of us could've fought the witch, and maybe even defeated it easily. We could've even-

Papyrus poked my cheek, and I startled at his touch. "HUMAN! YOU ARE THINKING OF SOMETHING WEIRD, RIGHT?" He narrowed his eyes at me to prove a point.

I took a shaky breath. "I-I should've…"

"I CAN ONLY SAY THOSE THINGS BECAUSE I ALREADY AM A MAGICAL MONSTER." Papyrus pointed out. "THE IDEA IS THAT I WOULD'VE BECOME ONE EVENTUALLY, SO WHY NOT DO IT SOONER? LIKE A DESTINY." He looked to the sky with a happy sigh. "I, MASTER WISH FINDER, HAVE FOUND MY WISH. I FOUND SOMETHING WORTH RISKING MY LIFE FOR." He turned to me, an apologetic look in his eye. "SO DON'T FEEL BAD, HUMAN! THAT'S ALL I WANTED YOU TO KNOW."

"Yeah…" The two of us stared at the river before us, currents moving swiftly along

Papyrus got up, already getting ready to leave. "ANYWAY! I HAVE TO GET GOING!"

"Huh? Do you have something to do?"

"YEAH!" He cheered, grinning. "JUST A LITTLE SOMETHING."

* * *

"So. Watcha wanted to talk about?"

Sans and I were sitting in a cafe, called "Grillby's" or something. It was a little monster establishment that I had figured would be a good place to talk without being interrupted or overheard. I had asked him to meet me there. We had only gotten some simple food, since eating wasn't the main point of the meeting anyway. I tried to convince myself we were just here to talk. That we weren't here for any other suspicious reasons, like dating, or…

I made myself focus on the question. "It's, uh… about Papyrus…" Sans blinked at my words. "It's really easy for him to believe what he wants to, and sometimes he gets pretty stubborn. And he may not seem much like it, but he's a really nice person! He's really kind and and courageous and…" I sighed. "He would go to any length to help someone."

Sans ate a french fry. "That's fatal for a Magical Monster." He put out blantly.

"R-really?..."

Sans sighed, putting down his french fry. "Excessive kindness leads to weakness." He said gruffly. "Reckless courage? Becomes inattention to detail. And dedication gives no reward whatsoever. If you don't understand that, then ya shouldn't be a Magical Monster." He moved to pry open the ketchup bottle. "See, that's why Alphys lost her life-"

"Stop talking like that!" I paused briefly after the outburst, and attempted to calm myself down. "Papyrus might say he's fine, but when I think of things happening to him like they did to Alphys, I… I don't know what to do."

"You're worried about him, aren't ya?"

I nodded. "I can't do anything for him anymore, so I was wondering if maybe you?..." I gulped. "Maybe you could become friends with him?" It was a vain hope, but I had to ask. "It would be safer if you all fought together against witches, right? So it would only be sensible if you-" I stopped when I saw the look on his face.

Sighing, he put the ketchup bottle down. Wasn't he going to pour it on his fries? "I don't wanna _lie_ , kid, and I can't go around making any promises I can't keep. Besides." He grinned. "I _hate_ promises." Shrugging at my expression, he finally took a sip of the ketchup. I decided not to comment on his strange behavior of condiment sipping. "Just give up on him already."

I could feel my eyes widening at his words. "Why?" I squeaked.

"He shouldn't have made a contract." Sans replied gruffly, taking a bite of hot dog. " _Frankly_ , it's my fault too. I should've watched his actions too, and not just yours."

"T-then?"

"It's a mistake I can't do anything about. It would be like… ya know." His grin faltered. "Bringing someone back from the grave. He's already a Magical Monster. There's no hope for salvation. Basically, the contract forces you to give up on everything in exchange for a single desire."

I sighed at his words, diverting my gaze. "So you've given up too?" I shake my head, staring at him. "You've given up on yourself and the monsters? On _everything_?"

"Yep." Was his simple response. "I won't make any excuses about trying to atone to my mistakes. I gotta keep fighting, no matter what sins I commit." He stepped off the seat, signifying the end of the conversation. My single hope deflated into nothing. "Seems I've wasted your time." He commented. "Sorry, buddo." He turned away, leaving the table to myself.

* * *

Papyrus finally left the building, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw me waiting outside. "FRISK?"

"Papyrus!" I smiled back, noticing that Flowey was perched on his shoulder. "Are you going to…?"

"YEAH! I, MASTER WITCH-HUNTING PAPYRUS, AM PATROLLING FOR BAD WITCHES!" He looks discreetly to the side. "IT'S KINDA PART OF THE JOB FOR JUSTICE."

"Will you be fine by yourself?"

"OF COURSE! I MEAN, ALPHYS DID IT TOO! IF WE LEARNED UNDER HER, I CAN PROBABLY DO THE SAME! AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT! I AM CERTAIN THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN STOP ME."

"I-I can't do anything." I stuttered, knowing how ridiculous my request would sound. "I know I'll just get in the way, but… could you please take me with you? At least, until I would cause a problem?"

I blinked at Papyrus' still expression. Had I made him mad? Was he going to say no? Then, his grin suddenly grew larger. "YOU ARE TRYING TOO HARD, FRISK!"

"I'm… sorry?" I sighed. "I guess I shouldn't. I would just get in your way or something."

"WHAT? NO!" Papyrus happily set his hands on my shoulders. "I'M VERY HAPPY YOU'VE DECIDED TO JOIN US!" I frowned, and he started to explain, his voice dying down. "COULDN'T YOU TELL? EVEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS HIS OWN WORRIES! IN FACT, MY HANDS HAVEN'T STOPPED SHAKING EVER SINCE. PATHETIC, RIGHT?"

"Paps?"

"YOU'RE NO NUISANCE! I AM VERY HAPPY! I FEEL BETTER JUST BY KNOWING YOU'LL BE WITH ME! IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I HAVE THE POWER OF A HUNDRED SKELETONS!"

"I…" I grinned a little at his enthusiasm.

"DO NOT WORRY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL PROTECT YOU! SO JUST FOLLOW ME! WE'RE GONNA GET THOSE WITCHES!"

"Right!"

Papyrus set a pair of sunglasses upon his head, trying to look cool. "WITCHES! YOU HAD BETTER BE PREPARED FOR MANY JINKS AND JAPES COMING YOUR WAY!"

Flowey readjusted himself on Papyrus' shoulder. "You _know_ it's dangerous, right?"

"KEEPING FRISK HERE WILL ALLOW ME TO REMIND MYSELF TO BE CAREFUL." Papyrus explained.

"I see." Flowey commented. "Well, I hope you have a plan of _some_ sort."

"Flowey…" I paused when I saw him looking in my direction.

"Hey Frisk." He said to me through telepathy. "You have a plan too, right? You want to protect him. Just by staying with him, you have an ace up your sleeve if the worst happens." He grinned at my surprised expression. "Don't act so surprised. I'm not stupid."

"I-I…"

"Don't worry." Flowey reassured me, waving a paw. "You don't have to say anything now. Just know that I'll be ready when you are."

* * *

We were standing in front of a dark alleyway, Papyrus' Soul Gem glowing vibrantly. This was the place. "IT'S HERE." He proclaimed.

Almost immediately, rainbow stars burst out from the ground. The walls were covered with scribbles of a green crayon, and the space behind us became a green wall as well. Orange handprints dotted along the green as colorful crayons fell from the ceiling. It was like a nursery. The walls had pictures of cute little zoo animals.

"This barrier feels like a familiar's, not a witch's." Flowey informed us helpfully.

"GOOD." Papyrus spoke. "THE EASIER THE BETTER! NOT THAT I _WOULD_ DISLIKE A WITCH INSTEAD OF A FAMILIAR, THAT IS. JUST THAT STARTING WITH SOMETHING EASIER MAY BE BETTER FOR A START. NYEH."

"Don't let your guard down." I reminded him as we descended the stairs.

"OF COURSE!"

The walls were still green, though they seemed to be made of notebook paper. They were decorated with more stars and toy blocks of all shapes and sizes. A shadow passed behind us, and we all turned around to investigate. Yellow balls bounced around the place, swarms of them making _boing_ noises against the ground and walls. Then, a single monster riding a tiny airplane came into view, flying in crazed circles. It stuck its tongue out at us as it flew away.

"Is that?..."

"It's going to get away!" Flowey yelled.

"LEAVE IT TO ME!" Papyrus brought out his Soul Gem, and purple sparkles surrounded his being. In a flash of light, he was in his uniform, sword in hand and all. Flying down the stairs, he ducked under his cape before revealing a whole set of long bones underneath. Cape flying wildly, he sent them flying at the monster in the air, throwing them with precision.

The monster continued to fly away, teasing Papyrus relentlessly. All the swords were missing him by mere centimeters. Green hair flying and still sticking his tongue out at us, he flew away on his tiny flying car, only to stop right before slamming face-first into another blade. Papyrus had almost got him!

But then suddenly, another blue weapon came into view. It looked like a spear point connected to a string, and it split the bone blades thrown by Papyrus into pieces, allowing the familiar to run away as he wailed in fear, moving into the depths of his own abyss. Mouth opening in shock, I watched as the familiar got away, thanks to the spear-weapon.

In the next moment, another monster had dropped in front of us. She was a fish lady; her scales were blue, and she had her flaming red hair tied into a ponytail behind her. She looked to be about as tall as Papyrus, maybe even taller. She seemed to be wearing the same attire as a Magical Monster, except her's was red. Not to mention that her gaze was furious.

"WAIT A MINUTE, punks!" She yelled, swinging her spear around. "Just _what_ are you two doing?" Her voice was loud and husky, full of energy.

Before any of us could protest, the labyrinth was already dying away. In the next moment, our surroundings were back. The familiar had gotten away.

"IT'S GOING TO GET AWAY!" Papyrus yelled frantically. He started to run forward, only to be immediately stopped by a spear to the throat.

The newcomer was standing quite far away, yet her spear had grown to accustom to the space between them. "Can't ya tell, ya punks?" She kept her spear pointed at Papyrus in a threatening way. "That's a familiar, not a witch! It's _not_ gonna _have_ a Grief Seed!"

"BUT LEAVING IT BE MIGHT GET SOMEONE KILLED!" Papyrus protested angrily.

The fish-lady raised her other arm to take a bite out of a fish-shaped bun. "You just have to wait for it to eat around four to five people." She explained, grinning at our shocked expressions. "Just until it become a witch. _That's_ how you get Grief Seeds." She finally retracted her spear, spinning it a couple of times before stopping. "It's like trying to strangle a chicken before it lays eggs! How dumb can you nerds get?"

Papyrus frowned, obvious confusion on his face. "ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE SHOULD LET THE WITCH _KILL_ PEOPLE?"

She took another bite, finally setting the spear point down to the ground. "You punks are gettin' it wrong." She huffed. "Ya ever heard of the food chain? Well see, that's just like our situation here." She licked her fangs before stepping closer to Papyrus. "The witches will eat the weak humans. And we'll eat them." She was still eating her bun, too. "That's how it works. The stronger you are, the higher up you are."

She was still moving forward, and Papyrus had no choice to but to slowly back off. I could only stand there and look between them, unsure about what to do. Then suddenly, a red force field appeared, separating me and the two Magical Monsters. I couldn't reach them anymore. "That's…"

"NYEH!" Papyrus growled in a warning tone. I could see he was barely restraining himself from attacking.

Undyne pushed her spear toward the ground, and I heard the concrete crumble. "Huhu!" She grinned. "I hope ya didn't form a contract with Flowey just to make people watch you play out some _ridiculous joke_!" She gave Flowey an eerie look, who was sitting on the ground not too far away from the scene. "Ya know. Like _pretending_ to rescue people and trying to perform justice, something _stupid_ like that, am I right?"

Papyrus seemed unsettled. "AND SO WHAT IF I DID?" He attempted to swing his sword at the fish lady, but she blocked him off with her spear easily.

"Aw c'mon, punk!" She teased. "You can do better than _that_!" Papyrus strained against the spear, putting all the force he could onto his sword. But the fish-lady didn't even budge. Even I knew this battle was impossible. She took another bite of bun. "Ya know, it _pisses_ me off when someone messes with _my_ work. Especially when they think it's all good and fun."

With a single thrust of her spear, she sent Papyrus flying back. Spinning, her spear grew longer and broke into pieces all connected together, like a long nun-chuck. It was bizarre. In the next moment, her broken-up weapon had slammed itself into Papyrus, leaving him spinning down the alley and bouncing off the walls. He hit a couple of surfaces and broke a couple of pipes before coming to a stop, the sword landing on the ground next to him. He looked good as dead.

"P-Papyrus!?" I attempted to find a way through the red barrier. No luck.

The broken pipe was now spouting water all over the ground next to Papyrus. "Hmph." She commented. "Dumb brats. Cool yourself off for a bit, will ya?" She turned around and started to walk away from the scene.

That is, until Papyrus started to get up, leaning against his sword to right himself. "Huh. That's funny." She frowned, turning back around. " _That_ should've been enough to land you in the hospital for three months. No, for _three years_!" She lifted her head to cackle for a bit. "FUHUHUHU!"

"Papyrus is okay?" I wondered.

Flowey was perched on my shoulder now. "That's because he used his wish for building. Er… that is, robot creation and whatnot. So now, his rejuvenation ability is far greater than anyone's else's." That explained things.

Papyrus was now slowly getting up, like he was regaining his strength after every second that passed. "I, THE GREAT PAPYURS, WON'T LOSE TO YOU!" He proclaimed. "IT'S BECAUSE OF MONSTERS LIKE YOU THAT WITCHES…" He hesitates.

"Well, I gotta give it to ya." She finally ate the last piece of the bun before twirling her spear around again. "You're the most _annoying_ brat I've ever met!" She set the spear in her hands, ready to attack. Papyrus readied his own sword, concentrating. "Actually, punks like you shouldn't even be talking back to me like that! After all, I've been doing this _far_ longer than you."

Papyrus tilted his sword. "THAT'S RUDE! NYEH!"

She attacked, jumping forward as her spear split into pieces again. She swung it at Papyrus once, and he deflected it. She tried again, only to have him block her off again. The spear formed back together, and she struck him over and over, each time with Papyrus blocking her off in some way. He didn't even get hit once, making me assume that he was concentrating very hard. Sometimes there were swings with the nun-chuck, other times they were direct hits with the spear.

" _STOP moving around ya punk_!"

Papyrus was barely holding her back now. With every hit, he winced slightly from the impact it sent down his arms. The strikes were so strong, they sent bright sparks flying off their weapons. They were starting to near the edge of the barrier. Papyrus finally raised his sword to deal his own attack, leaving his chest wide open.

"Papyrus!" I called worriedly.

"Don't move forward!" Flowey warned me. "It's too dangerous to get closer."

Papyrus lost his balance for a split moment, and that was enough for the fish-woman to find her chance. She hit him in one direction, then sent out a chain that wrapped tightly around his midsection. Then she sent him flying into the wall again. He yelped in surprise, and winced while laying vulnerable on the ground.

The broken spear bits were now floating in the air, and I realized that the chains were strung through the pieces, like a necklace. That was how it stuck together. "If you brats are so dumb that you can't even _get it_ when I _tell_ you or when I _beat_ you down, then..." She smiled a toothy grin. "Then I'll just have to _kill_ you! _Fuhuhuhu_!"

Putting on a confident expression, she moved forward, running at Papyrus with top speed. Raising himself up, Papyrus readied his own charge. In the next moment, they had collided, weapons forcing against one another, tip-to-tip. It seemed like an impossible maneuver. The fish lady frowned for a moment, seeming unsettled at the way Papyrus had blocked her off. Random bubbles floated around, the fight showing in their reflections.

"I WON'T LOSE!" Papyrus proclaimed, pushing his own sword forwards. The fish lady pushed forward just as hard, growling with the effort needed. The power became so strong that an energy ball had started to appear right where the tip of the weapons met, making more sparks fly off. Just a single tip in the balance would put them off.

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, REFUSE TO LOSE!" Papyrus repeated, thrusting forward, and knocking the spear down. The fish woman quickly retaliated, swinging her spear to clash with Papyrus'. Then she leaped upwards, the spear posed above her head, before bringing it down towards the ground to boost herself upwards.

Papyrus and I both gasped at the sight. She was now flying down at an unimaginable speed, the spear pieces clicking and moving so fast that I couldn't even see them. Then when she almost reached the ground, the spear formed back together and she struck.

Brown clouds billowed up from the impact. Fortunately, she had missed by a landslide. It had only sent Papyrus back a short distance. Readying his sword, Papyrus charged forward. She stopped him with her spear again, expertly controlling the stick's direction with her hands. She spun before striking him again, though Papyrus blocked it as well. They seemed to almost be evenly matched, despite Undyne's claims.

But now there was a different question on my mind. I couldn't really understand why they were fighting in the first place. Although I could feel myself silently rooting for Papyrus, I went to ask myself what this would gain. It didn't make sense. They were on the same side, yet they were fighting, even in the absence of a witch.

"It's hopeless." Flowey sighed, shrugging his petals. "Neither of these two idiots feel like backing down." I watched as the battle continued on, with spear pieces and bone blades flying around and hitting one another. The fish woman even managed to land a kick in the midst of it.

"Flowey." I gulped. "Can't you make them stop? This shouldn't even be happening! After all… they're on the same side! Aren't they both Magical Monsters?"

Flowey turned his head away, pouting slightly. "I can't do anything about it." He answered, leaping off my shoulder to land on the ground. "However, if you _want_ to stop them by force, it's not like there aren't any options on the table." I blinked at his words, watching the two monsters collide with one another. "Only another magical monster can come between their fighting. _You_ can do it if you really wish it."

That was right. I could form a contract right now, and-

Papyrus suddenly fell once the chains wrapped around his legs to bring him down. The fish woman was perched atop her own spear pole, towering over the skeleton as the nun-chuck pieces flew around the surrounding air. " _It's over_ , punk!" Papyrus looked up weakly, a look of uncertainty in his expression. His attacker stared at him with an accomplished grin before jumping down at him, her spear readied to strike him dead.

It was now or never. I quickly turned to Flowey, prepared for my wish. "I-"

I was immediately cut off by a voice. "There'll be no need for that." Startled, I noticed someone in the reflection of the bubbles. Before I could try to see if it had been my imagination, the bubble popped.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion after that. The fish lady continued to move downwards in a swift movement, and she struck the ground at full force, the water pipe next to her exploding. I was sure she had hit her mark, but her expression was shocked as she landed. Bewildered, I looked to Papyrus to see that he was safe, on the other side of the alleyway.

It was so confusing, and impossible to tell what had happened. The two that had just been fighting a moment ago were now a good distance away from one another. Had the fish lady missed her target? That couldn't be possible, since she had been aiming for him directly. Then had Papyrus been moved? That couldn't be it either, since he was still on the ground. Then what had happened?

And right between them was someone standing in the middle of a damp puddle. It was Sans, grinning in his own accomplished way.


	7. Definitely something wrong with this

**Full Title: _There's definitely something wrong with this_**

* * *

The water droplets from the puddle glittered around him. Compared to the other two Magical Monsters, Sans looked extremely short. He was still grinning as those exact two turned to him in shock, surprise mirrored on their faces. Even I myself was startled.

"Sans…" That was who I had seen in the reflection of the bubble.

" _You_!" The fish woman shouted angrily, pointing her spear in Sans' direction. " _What_ the hell did you just-" She stopped when she realized Sans wasn't in front of her anymore. Confusion on her face, she turned around to face the skeleton who was now standing behind her, a dark look on his face. It was just like the battle with the witch Alphys had died from. He moved from place to place without us even seeing him. Did he have teleportation abilities or something?

She held her spear tightly, until realization made its way to her expression. " _Ha!_ You're that so-called 'irregular,' huh?" She grinned mischievously. "You're using quite the strange technique there, punk!"

Papyrus narrowed his eyes at Sans, suspicion and confusion sparking in his gaze. He moved forward in a defensive stance. "WHY DID YOU-" He was stopped when Sans cut him off, holding a hand out to stop him. Papyrus' own eyes widened with surprise. Sans had just been standing in front of the fish lady moments ago, and now he was behind Papyrus. How in the world had he done it?

Despite his size, Sans somehow managed to strike an area on Papyrus' back, leaving him falling onto the floor in an unconscious state. The sword dropped from his grasp, and clattered on the ground next to him.

With the battle somewhat over, the barrier went away. It was my chance to finally reach them. "Papyrus!" I quickly rushed to his side, looking him over for any damage. What had Sans done to him?

"Don't worry." Flowey reassured me. "He's just unconscious."

The fish lady's back was still turned to Sans, since she hadn't turned around after his teleportation to Papyrus. "Who in the heck are you?" She asked seriously. "Just _whose_ side are you on, exactly?"

Sans grinned.. "I'm on the side of those who maintain their composure." He replied, voice gruff and shrugging slightly. "...and the enemy of the idiots who initiate fights needlessly." He ducked his head down a bit, giving the fish woman an eerie stare. "Now… which are you, Undyne?"

The fish woman suddenly snapped her head up, turning around quickly. She looked unsettled. "What-" She suddenly paused to reconsider her words before narrowing her eyes. "Have we _met_ before?"

Sans didn't answer, just returned the question with an empty stare. Undyne narrowed her eyes further, but he remained silent. Finally after a some silence, she sighed and flipped her spear above her head, trying to look indifferent. "Today's your lucky day, punk. I'm not gonna be fighting you just yet, since I've got no clue on what hand you're going to play." She turned away reluctantly. "I'll be backing down for now. But just you wait. I'll be back."

"A prudent course of action." Sans commented.

In the next moment, Undyne had jumped up, using her spear to propel and bounce off the walls of the alleyway to escape the area. Soon, her figure was no more than a shadow. Once she ducked behind a building's roof, she was gone.

I moved my gaze to Sans, hope inside me. "You saved him?"

Sans stared at the sky for a moment longer before turning to me, an annoyed look on his face. "How many times do I have to warn ya, kiddo?" His gaze hardened. "Just how big of a fool _are_ you?"

Once I realized what he was saying, I looked down, unable to meet his piercing gaze.

His eye sockets were rather dark, and a bead of sweat moved down his skull. "I've warned you more than enough times not to get involved, correct?"

"I…"

"I will not hold back against a fool." Sans said roughly. After that, he started to stride away.

I barely blinked back tears. I couldn't understand why he acted this way. "Sans… why?"

Flowey bounded next to my arm, giving Sans' departing figure a wary glare. "At any rate, he's obviously planning something. Just… be careful."

* * *

There were cracks in the ground of the concrete. It must've been this way, right? I crept into the alleyway, searching. I was alerted when I heard their voices, and I hurried to make a left turn.

I moved into a darker area, where the ground patterned in a dark-orange line of diamonds. Little bits of light shone from a nearby window, but otherwise, it was dark in the night.

It was Flowey, leaning over something in the ground with Papyrus. "It's not going to work." He said. "Too much time has passed. It doesn't look like we have any clues to help locate the familiar from last night."

Papyrus' eyes were narrowed like he was thinking. "HM."

They still hadn't noticed me, too busy gazing at the ground. "Um, Papyrus?" He turned his head, eyes opening in a sort of surprise at seeing me. "If you continue to hunt witches, won't you run into the fish lady monster again?"

"WELL. YEAH, I GUESS."

"I-I think you should try to find her and talk things over! If you don't, then you might just end up fighting again."

Papyrus gave me a look. "A FIGHT." He repeats. Seeing my face, he shakes his head. "HUMAN, I'M AFRAID YOU'VE MISUNDERSTOOD. UNDYNE... SHE WAS ACTUALLY TRYING TO DESTROY ME."

"But… that makes it even worse!"

"AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW THAT." Papyrus retaliated, slight irritation sparking in his gaze. "HER INTENTIONS ARE UNSAFE! SHE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE WEIGHT OF HER ACTIONS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HAVE TO LEAD HER ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW!"

"But Papyrus, you became a Magical Monster to fight witches, right?" I gulped, trying to make him see reason. "Undyne isn't a witch, she's just another Magic Monster like you! I'm sure there's a way to get along if you look for it. I mean, even though her ways are different from ours, you both can still take out witches together, right? I'm sure she feels the same. A-and Sans too!" Papyrus obviously cringed at the name. "A-and if only Alphys hadn't fought with Sans-"

"IT IS ALL THAT LAZYBONE'S FAULT!" Papyrus shouted back. "IF THE LAZY SACK OF BONES HAD ONLY ARRIVED EARLIER, ALPHYS MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE NOW! BUT IT WAS ALL BECAUSE HE WANTED THE SEED..."

"T-that's not what happened!" Alphys herself had trapped Sans to prevent him from advancing. I tried to tell Papyrus, but he quickly interrupted.

"THAT TRANSFER STUDENT IS THE SAME AS UNDYNE!" He decides. "THEY ARE BOTH ON A DANGEROUS PATH... ONE THAT EVEN I CANNOT LEAD THEM FROM. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO TRUST OTHER MAGIC MONSTERS SUCH AS THEM. I UNDERSTAND NOW THAT ALPHYS WAS THE ONLY DIFFERENT ONE."

"No…" I squeaked helplessly.

"THE FAMILIAR THAT GOT AWAY YESTERDAY MIGHT STILL HURT PEOPLE!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THEY MIGHT HURT THE PEOPLE WE CARE ABOUT, OR EVEN GO AFTER KING ASGORE NEXT." His voice died down some. "HOW COULD UNDYNE JUST LET IT HAPPEN?"

I hiccuped a little, trying to hold down my desperation. Papyrus' speech had just made me feel rejected. "I AM NOT _JUST_ FIGHTING WITCHES." He finally concluded. "I ALSO WANTED TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT. THAT IS WHY I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WORSE THAN THE WITCHES. EVEN IF THEY ARE ANOTHER MAGIC MONSTER."

I could barely respond. This wasn't like the usual Papyrus at all. "Paps?..." Papyrus strode away quickly, not even sparing me a reassuring glance. He seemed dead-set. I didn't know what to do. So instead, I turned to Flowey, who was still sitting nearby. "Flowey, please say something to him…"

Flowey shook his head. "All _I_ can say is that he's being too reckless. For now, that idiot has no chance against Undyne _or_ Sans. But… he won't even pay attention to what I have to say."

I ducked my head down, more hope draining inside me. "I see…"

* * *

I startled from my sleep when I heard thumping noises from downstairs. I raised myself from the bed, not feeling particularly sleepy anymore.

I headed down stairs and found Toriel sipping something from a mug at the table. "Can't sleep, my child?" She inquired when she saw me at the foot of the stair case.

"Yeah…" I nodded. "C-can I sit down with you?"

Toriel nodded warmly before pouring me a glass or orange juice. "Cheers." We clinked our glasses together briefly before sipping the juice. The ice made clinking noises against the glass.

Toriel was giving me a questioning look, no doubt wondering why I couldn't fall asleep. I sigh, debating on whether I should talk to Toriel about my worries. I finally decide to. "Things aren't going really well with my friend." I explain quietly. "The things that he says and does aren't exactly wrong, but… the more right he tries to accomplish, the more wrong everything gets."

Toriel smiled weakly down at me. "That happens a lot. It's unlikable, but true. Happy endings can't always be reached just by doing the right thing. But also, the more that people insist they're on the right, the farther away happiness gets." Her voice sounded wistful, like she was thinking of someone as well.

"Then… what should I do?"

"Well…" Toriel looked me in the eye. "I'm guessing talking it out won't do anything, right?" I nodded. "Then I believe the question is whether you're willing to solve this even without the right methods?" I nodded again, and Toriel sighed. "I would never imagine having to say this but… if it really comes to that, then just do something wrong."

"H-huh?"

"Child." She set her paw on my hand. "It's a way of keeping things in order. To balance her right, somebody needs to be in the wrong."

"Something wrong?" I questioned, tilting my head.

"Make a lie, or run away from something scary." Toriel chuckled, shaking her head. "Please don't actually do that all the time. It's just that… sometimes you eventually realize that doing those things were actually the best choices in the end. Sometimes, big mistakes can occur in a dead end."

I faced her doubtfully, an idea stirring in my mind. "But would they understand that I was doing it for them?"

"Maybe not. At least, not right afterwards. But what do you think is worse, you giving up on him or him getting the wrong idea about you?" At my face was hesitation, Toriel smiled gently. "Frisk, you are a very good child. I know that whatever you choose to do will be the right one. So that's why I recommend making some mistakes before you grow up." When I gave her a questioning gaze, she explained further. "When you're young, you can recover from mistakes faster. To learn how to fall down will help you later in life.

"I see." I took another sip of orange juice. "But isn't being an adult hard?"

Toriel chuckled. "It is hard for everyone, my child. But even still, I must admit it is rather fun to be one."

I grinned back at her, my mind set. I was going to do a wrong, to balance out Papyrus' right. He might not thank me for it, but I'll do it for him. I have to.

* * *

I tap around on my computer's keyboard, Toriel's words echoing in my mind. I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts when I heard a voice calling to me.

"Frisk!" Startled, I turned to my window to find Flowey sitting there. My heart pounded in my chest at the sincerity of his tone of voice. This must be serious. "Hurry! Papyrus is in trouble!" I immediately stood up, pushing the chair away from me. I _had_ to find Papyrus. "Follow me!" Flowey commanded.

* * *

I ran across the stone bridge, following Flowey as he lead me. Just up ahead I saw two figures, and one of them was surrounded by a burst of red light before it disappeared. I knew who they were. Undyne and Papyrus, and they were going to fight. I couldn't let them!

I was close enough now to see Papyrus holding his Soul Gem out, staring at Undyne with a determined gaze. "Wait, Papyrus!" His concentrated gaze immediately lifted, and he turned to me with surprise.

"H-HUMAN!" He narrowed his eyes. "PLEASE, DON'T GET IN THE WAY. I, MASTER FIGHTER PAPYRUS, HAVE TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE!"

"No!" I protested, shaking my head. "There's definitely something weird about this."

" _Ha_!" Undyne grinned, bringing out her spear. There was a pocky stick in her mouth. "So the annoying skelly has an annoying twerp friend? Just great!"

"Huh." A gruff voice said beside her. "Would that make me your friend?"

Startled, Undyne immediately turned around to find Sans standing behind her, a displeased look on his face. "Drat!" Undyne cursed. "Why are _you_ here?"

"This is not what we discussed." Sans noted, eyebrow raised. "I thought we agreed that you would keep your hands off of Papyrus?"

"You brat!" Undyne retorted. "Your method wouldn't have worked or brought the message across! And anyway, it's not like he wants to back off or anything." She turned back to Papyrus, a greedy grin on her face. "He's just asking for it-"

"I'll take 'em on then." Undyne blinked in surprise when she realized Sans was already approaching Papyrus. "Don't get yourself involved."

After a huff, Undyne reluctantly answered. "Fine. Then I'll just wait until I'm done eating this." She pointed to the pocky stick in her mouth.

"That'll be more than enough time." Sans responded with ease, slowly approaching us.

Papyrus hesitated for a moment before holding his orange Soul Gem out confidently. "I WON'T BE EASY TO DEFEAT." He warned.

This was bad. Everyone was fighting each other, and no one looked like they were backing down. Sans and Undyne almost seemed to be on the same team, working together. It would be two against one, an unfair fight. Papyrus would definitely lose. And then what would happen? I didn't like this one bit.

So I was going to have to do it now. I was going to have to perform a _wrong_.

I rushed forward, plucking Papyrus' Soul Gem right out of the palm of his gloved hand. "Paps, I'm sorry!" For a moment, Papyrus only blinks in surprise. I ran to the edge of the bridge, holding the gem between my fingers. Below us was a highway, busy with moving cars. Taking a deep breath, I threw it down as hard as I could. The gem sparkled as it flew down, and a moment later, it was swept away.

Even Sans looked shocked, and after the feat, he disappeared in a flash.

"F-FRISK!" Papyrus quickly ran up to me, disbelief clouding his gaze. "WHY DID YOU?!" His expression quickly transformed to anger.

I tried to defend myself. "But if I didn't, then…" I stopped when Papyrus froze, his eyes becoming cloudy and unfocused. "Paps?..." Almost like he was unconscious, he landed heavily in my arms, unmoving. He didn't speak. What was he doing?

"Well that was definitely unexpected." Flowey commented, setting himself upon the bridge rail. "And really bad. Honestly, there must be something seriously wrong with you to throw your friend like that."

Undyne was rushing toward us, but I barely noticed her. "W-what do you mean?" I asked, panicked. "What are you saying?"

Undyne suddenly reached out from behind me, grabbing onto Papyrus neck and holding him up like a limp rag doll. "N-no!" I pleaded. "Stop it!"

Her expression was quizzical. "What in the world is going on?!" She looked absolutely shocked as she said her next words, "No wait. He's _dead_!"

I gasped in fear as I heard those words, and Undyne dropped Papyrus to the ground. He continued to stay still. Not moving, not speaking, not living. "P-Papyrus?..." I started to shake him, trying to convince myself he wasn't dead. That I hadn't killed him somehow. "Paps! Please wake up!" My breaths were ragged. "S-say something! What's wrong?... I don't want this to happen! _Papyrus!_ "

Undyne looked absolutely bewildered, flinching at every one of my words. "What the _heck_ is going on?!" She quickly turned to Flowey, an accusing glare pointed at him. "Hey!"

Flowey stared back at her indifferently. "Magical Monsters can only control their bodies from a hundred meters away at most."

"A hundred meters?" Undyne looked in thought for a moment before bringing her fist up. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Well, you normally walk around with them, so accidents like this rarely happen."

Nothing he was saying was making any sense. "...Flowey?" I echoed, confused and bewildered. "Please save him! P-please don't let Papyrus die!"

Flowey gave me a troubled expression before looking away. "Frisk… that's not Papyrus. It's just an empty container. You just threw him over the bridge."

"W-what?!" Undyne exclaimed.

"See," Flowey started to explain. "I couldn't ask you to fight witches with a fragile body like a normal person's. A Magical Monster's body is nothing more than a piece of external hardware. The actual Soul is given a much safer, compact form that is capable of controlling magic much more efficiently. It's just part of my job, when I complete Magical Monster contracts." Flowey shrugged like there was nothing special about it. "I remove your souls and change them to Soul Gems."

I stared at him in shock, barely registering the words. Papyrus wasn't in his body. He was in his Soul Gem. And I had just thrown him over the bridge. I would never see him again. _I_ had _killed_ him.

Undyne looked ready to explode, giving Flowey the most sharpest glare I've ever seen. "What in the _heck_ did you do to us, you twerp?!" She stepped forward, grabbing him by the scruff and holding him in the air. She looked angry enough to chuck him over the bridge. "You _brat_! You've turned us into... into _zombies_!"

Flowey struggled a bit but didn't seem very bothered. "What? Isn't it more convenient this way? No matter what physical condition you're in, you'll always be able to heal it back with magic and resume fighting. So you're basically invincible, provided that your Gem doesn't break. Isn't that way better than fighting with a human body that has so many potential problems?"

My mind was whirling with the new information. It couldn't be possible. That would mean that Sans, Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus… it would mean that _all_ Magic Monster's souls were transferred into _gems_. "That's terrible." I murmured. "That's _awful_." I felt ready to cry.

Flowey face was unamused. "You're all the same. You always act the same way when you're told what's going on. I just don't get it. Why do humans put so much value into where their souls are placed? They should just be glad they have one."

Undyne looked ready to kill, and I was ready to burst into tears at Papyrus' death. But then suddenly, a bony hand appeared next to me, placing an orange Soul Gem next to Papyrus' body. Sans had returned. Undyne and I gasped a little as color returned to Papyrus' eyes and he startled awake. He picked himself up, giving all of us a curious stare. We only stared back in silence; the only noise we could hear were the cars passing underneath us.

"WHAT?" He finally asks when we don't respond. "WHAT HAPPENED?"


	8. Coming to terms with how you really feel

**Full Title: _Can you come to terms with how you really feel?_**

* * *

The bell rang and the teacher entered, saying her hellos to the class. And I immediately noticed that Papyrus was absent.

* * *

I stood at the top of the school roof, with Sans leaning on the wall next to me. "Sans… did you know about all that? About souls being turned into Soul Gems?" After a moment, he nodded slightly. "Then why didn't you tell us?"

He sighed. "No one's believed me so far, even when warned in advance. So..."

"Why would Flowey do something like this?" I asked, upset.

"He doesn't think it's a bad thing." Sans shrugged. "He's just a creature that doesn't understand people's values. Knowing him, he'll probably just say that it was an appropriate payment for bringing about a miracle."

"But… that's not fair at all!" I protested. "Flowey did that to Papyrus, even though all he wanted was to help a friend?"

"Either way, you gotta admit it was still a miracle." Sans stared to the sky, in thought. "He made the impossible possible. No matter _what_ Papyrus could've done, Mettaton would've never been fixed enough to perform again. And normally, a miracle costs _far_ more than a human life. Yet he goes around selling them at that price."

I sniffled a little. "Will Papyrus never be able to go back to his normal life again?"

"I've said it already, haven't I?" Sans turned to me. "Just give up on Papryus."

"But he's saved me before!" I could now remember how he had beat up the TV witch with wings, protecting and saving me. "If it weren't for him, Mettaton and I would both be…"

"Ya shouldn't confuse gratitude and responsibility. There's no way to save 'em. I know you wanna repay him, but it's not your place. You should stop thinking that way."

I stared at him in disbelief, not understanding his methods. "Sans, why are you always so _cold_?"

"Welp, I suppose I am." He shrugged a little bit, looking nonchalant. "Maybe it's 'cause I'm no longer who I once was." I wasn't sure how to reply to that.

* * *

The next morning, I ran to school with Napstablook, seeing Papyrus up ahead. Surprised, I ran faster to try to catch up to him. He was hunched over, deep in thought. Was he alright? "Good morning, Papyrus!" I called out.

"Hi…" Napstablook mumbled.

Papyrus snapped his head up to look at us. "OH!" He gave us an apologetic glance. "GOOD MORNING." Something about him seemed off… there was definitely something wrong.

The three of us continued on our walk to school. "So…" Napstablook whispered to Papyrus. "About yesterday?..."

"I FELT A LITTLE SICK." Papyrus admitted, putting on a smile.

He was faking, wasn't he? "Paps…"

"DON'T WORRY, FRISK!" Papyrus replied to me with telepathy, giving me a small grin. "IT'S OKAY! I'M FINE NOW. THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

I smiled back, slightly reassured. At least his enthusiasm didn't seem faked.

"ANYWAYS!" He started. "LET'S GET…" His voice died away when he looked to the side. Confused, I followed his gaze to some other students that were walking to school. Between a couple of them was Mettaton, but it wasn't the rectangular robot I had once known. In fact, there wasn't a single trace of metal on his body. He looked like a completely new and rebuilt person, with jet black hair and long arms and legs. Pink and black seemed to be his new fashion. Trying to look fabulous, he strutted his way into the school grounds, flashing a pearly smile at everyone he passed.

"I'M BACK, LADIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES!" He yelled into a microphone. He looked completely elated to be at school.

"Mettaton… is back?" Napstablook asked with awe. The three of us continued to stare at him as he the other students crowded him, and they quickly sped out of sight. There was a sad expression on Papyrus' face, and I wondered what was wrong. Shouldn't he be happy that Mettaton, with his new body and premiere, was coming back to school?

* * *

Mettaton sat at his desk, crowded by fans that wanted to ask how he was doing. He seemed to enjoy the attention very much, shaking hands with all the students and signing pieces of paper. He had made quite an entrance with his new form, and it had only caused all his fans to become abnormally, hysterically excited.

"Well," I huff humorously. "I'm glad he's doing well, at least."

Papyrus nods a little, and for some reason, does not join the crowd of fans. "YEAH."

I was surprised at his lack of enthusiasm. His star was here, right in front of him, and he wouldn't even go forward for a quick hello? Maybe he was just shy. Maybe he needed some encouragement, and that was all. "Paps, you should go say hi!" I put a hand on his shoulder pad. "You haven't said anything to him yet, right? I'm sure Mettaton would love to get a hello from his Number One Fan!" Napstablook just watched to the side silently, giving Papyrus a questioning look.

"UM, WELL YOU SEE..." Papyrus nervously looks to the side, beads of undignified sweat falling off the side of his skull. "PERHAPS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL PASS THIS TIME AROUND."

...that didn't make sense. Even Napstablook looked surprised. Papyrus wouldn't give up a single opportunity to be with Mettaton, so why was he distancing himself now? It didn't seem like him. Something was wrong. Was he alright? Was he as ok as he kept telling us he was?

* * *

Papyrus came out of the building, giving me a surprised look when he saw me waiting outside. "FRISK…"

I turned to him, ready to make my request again. "Can I go with you? Please?" Papyrus stared blankly back at me. "I don't want you to be alone, so…"

He was trembling slightly. "HUMAN, HOW ARE YOU SO KIND?" He narrowed his eyes slightly. "YOU DON'T NEED TO ACCOMPANY ME. I'M FINE."

"T-that's not true…"

Papyrus clenched his gloved fists in frustration. "TODAY, I ALMOST REGRETTED SOMETHING." He sniffled a little, and I was surprised to see him so weak and so unsure about himself. "I THOUGHT, JUST FOR A SECOND, WHAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF I HADN'T MADE MY WISH FOR METTATON. I'M…" He looked up, sadness in his eyes. "I THINK I MIGHT BE A FAILURE OF A HERO."

Seeing that he needed reassurance, I quickly stepped up to offer a hug. He accepted it quickly and without hesitation. "You've got something in your eye." I say.

Papyrus sniffles. "METTATON WILL BE TAKEN AWAY, AND HE WILL FORGET ABOUT ME BECAUSE I AM NOT AS IMPORTANT AS I THOUGHT I WAS." Papyrus wails. "EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CANNOT ASK FOR SUCH REQUESTS IN MY CURRENT STATE." I patted him comfortingly on the back. Flowey just sat to the side and watched.

We finally let go of one another. "THANK YOU, HUMAN. AND… I AM VERY SORRY ABOUT THAT."

"Paps…"

"I'M FINE NOW." He reassured me. "I FEEL BETTER. THANKS TO YOU!"

"Let's just go already." Flowey spat, seeming sick about our little reunion. "We need to find ourselves a witch tonight."

"RIGHT!" Papyrus cheered.

* * *

The inside of the witch's labyrinth was like a dome, big and white and covering us. The white shapes shifted around us, forming doily patterns to the ceiling above us. Before us was a tall red sun with a circle of letters around it, sitting upon the single hand of a statue of liberty. Sitting right in front of it was a black shadow of a child; the witch. Huffing on the statue's arm was Papyrus, and he glanced up warily before charging forwards.

Suddenly, long black things erupted from the ground like vines. The ends were sharp, some like dragon jaws, others like clingy hands. Papyrus slashed his sword, the bone deflecting and cutting a few of them. Then the vines crawled into the ground and rose from above, surrounding him like another dome, deadly and dangerous.

Papyrus cut and slash as they approached, defiantly making his way through the mess. Once there was a clear passageway for him, he ran, getting closer to the end of the arm where the enemy stood. But all the more vines shot from the ground, blocking his way. Seeming to find a loophole, Papyrus jumped up, passing by all the vines. He rushed towards the witch, only to have black tree branches abruptly cut him off. The black shadow created more branches, forcing Papyrus away. Yelping, he was pushed away by the new plant force, moving farther away from the witch. He was covered with leaves until I couldn't see him anymore.

"Papyrus!" I called out worriedly.

Suddenly, a few slashes later, the branches were cut to shreds. Someone jumped out of the leaves, but it wasn't Papyrus.

Landing next to me, Undyne set the limp Papyrus on the ground. I stared at her in awe, and she looked away. "I just couldn't sit there and watch as the punk got torn to shreds!" She defended herself. "Anyway! Just stay back. I'll show you the basics!" Papyrus got up, readying his sword. "Hey!"

"ALLOW ME!" He shouted indignantly. "I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" Then in a single leap, he cleared the whole of the statue's arm and slashed the shadow child in half, destroying it. Unfortunately, more vines erupted from the ground, attempting to tie Papyrus up.

"P-Paps!" I called, scared for his life.

Papyrus raised himself up as more vines grew from the body of the child, stretching out before him. A dark, higher-pitched chuckle escaped from his jaws, and I grew afraid. Then, he was suddenly pummeled with vines, and they stabbed him repetitively, bringing him up in the air. I gasped at his wounds. But in the next moment, he was flying back down, cutting all the vines away like they were nothing. Like he wasn't hurt at all. How had he survived those vine attacks? Then he landed heavily upon the shadow, squashing it and casting dark splotches everywhere.

A dark smile cutting across his features, he stabbed and jabbed the witch, over and over again. "SO IT'S TRUE!" He laughed in a maniacal way, still hitting the witch with unstoppable force. "IF YOU WANT, YOU REALLY DONT-" He interrupted himself with a crazy laugh. "HAVE TO FEEL PAIN ANYMORE!" There was a greedy look in his eye, and I yelped in my own surprise. More of the dark arms grabbed him on his sides in a clenching fury, but he didn't seem to feel them. There was no stopping him. "NYEH HEH HEHE!" Grinning in a psychotic way, he brought his sword down upon the witch one last time.


	9. I'm really stupid

Even after the final hit, he continued to stab with relentless force. Almost sadistically, he continued to hit and jab at the witch, grinning like a maniac. The vines withered, and the white dome above us cracked. Even Undyne looked surprised at the force at which Papyrus was using. The labyrinth was starting to fall apart.

Papyrus finally stopped, but not before letting out another small chuckle. "HEH! ONCE YOU KNOW HOW, IT'S PRETTY EASY." He commented, staring into the empty space with a greedy look in his eye. He seemed completely oblivious to the things happening around him. He raised a finger pointedly. "I DON'T THINK THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE LOSING ANYMORE!"

The shards of the dome around us finally faded away, bringing us back to the setting of the real world. The three of us were standing on the top of a tall balcony in a factory. The night shone around us, dark. Bending down, Papyrus picked up the Grief Seed lying on the ground. He then proceeded to throw it to Undyne, and she caught it, a disbelieving look in her expression.

"I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU!" Papyrus grinned, but not like his regular self. "IT'S WHAT YOU WERE AFTER, RIGHT?"

"Hey!" Undyne shouted back, angry at the assumption.

Papyrus moved forward. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, PAY OFF ALL MY DEBTS. SO THIS WILL MAKE US EVEN, OK?" He walked pass Undyne, ignoring the suspicious glare she was giving him. "LET'S GO HOME, FRISK."

"P-Paps?..." I whispered. I wasn't sure whether to feel worried or scared. Then suddenly, Papyrus transformed out of his uniform into his regular costume, and he fell into my arms in a tired way.

"...SORRY." He apologized, picking himself back up. "I'M JUST A LITTLE TIRED…" He looked extremely wobbly, like he was ready to fall over at any given moment.

"D-don't push yourself!" I warned him, offering my assistance. "Just hold onto me." With the two of us struggling together, we headed toward the stairs that would lead us down the balcony. Undyne only stared at us from behind, a frustrated look in her eye. I tried to ignore her piercing gaze.

Right before we started to descend the stairs, I swore I heard her say, "...that _idiot_."

* * *

The night was still dark, and rain pelted the the glass panes above us. The pitter-patter of it was annoying, and very untimely. Papyrus and I were sitting on a bench in a bus station, with him leaning on my shoulder.

"Papyrus, I don't think you should be fighting like that." He turned away. "You're lying when you say it doesn't hurt. It hurt me just watching you. It's not okay to hurt yourself just because you can't feel it."

Papyrus sighed a little. "ALTHOUGH I AM VERY GREAT, I KNOW MY SKILLS ARE NOT THE BEST. IF I HAD NOT DONE WHAT I DID, I MAY NOT HAVE SURVIVED."

"But even fighting like that!... It won't help you in the end, even _if_ you win."

"HUH." He commented promptly, turning away more. "BUT HOW CAN ANYTHING HELP ME NOW?" He stood up defiantly, shoving his dull Soul Gem in my face. "WHAT CAN I DO, NOW THAT THIS IS WHO I AM?"

"P-Paps?..."

"ALL I CAN TRY TO DO IS KILL WITCHES." He decides, monotone. "I DESTROY THEM WITH THIS BODY, AND THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT."

"I was just wondering how to make you happier…"

Papyrus suddenly turned to me, a skeptical look on his face. "YOU SHOULD FIGHT, THEN!"

"H-huh?"

"FLOWEY TOLD ME." Papyrus explained quickly. "HE TOLD ME THAT YOU HAD MORE NATURAL TALENT THAN ANYONE ELSE. EVEN MORE THAN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?"

"I… That's not!..."

"YOU COULD DO SOMETHING. YOU COULD BECOME A MAGICAL MONSTER WITH ME!" But suddenly, his bright expression falls. "BUT OF COURSE NOT. YOU STILL HAVE YOUR HUMANITY... YOU WOULDN'T TRADE IT, WOULD YOU?"

"It's not that!" I protested. "I-"

Papyrus suddenly turned on me, a stern and almost scary look on his face. "FLOWEY TOLD ME YOU COULD ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING. BUT FOR SOME REASON, YOU REFUSE TO DO IT. ONLY I, MASTER FIGHTER PAPYRUS, AM LEFT TO DEAL WITH EVERYTHING. HOW CAN YOU HELP ME... IF YOU AREN'T EVEN ONE YOURSELF?" With that final message, he stepped out the dry shelter of the station, his boots sinking into the puddles.

I quickly followed him out, wincing at how wet I was getting. "Papyrus!"

He stopped, turned. "DON'T FOLLOW ME." He growled, annoyed. I stared at him in shock as he turned away, splashing in the puddles as he ran. And all I could do was stand and watch, just like he said.

* * *

We sat in class, listening to the teacher babble. She seemed reluctant to be teaching about grammar and such, yet she continued. Papyrus wasn't in class today. I closed my eyes, not really listening, but thinking back to the previous night. Thinking about how Papyrus had run away into the rainy night, and how I should've followed him, despite his demands.

* * *

"Huh? He hasn't come home, not since last night? Ok, um… I understand. Thank you." I closed the speaker to Papyrus' hotel, ending the call. I sighed a little at the new information.

Papyrus was nowhere to be found. I didn't know where he was. Where could he have gone? Where could I find him? "I need… to find him." I decided. Then I ran.

* * *

"Paps… where are you?..." I stumbled my way through the park, passing by a fountain before stopping myself next to a bench. There was a familiar shadow, blending in with a nearby lamppost.

"So you hate me too?" Flowey asked as he revealed himself from hiding.

"If I did, would you return Paps back to normal?" I mumble.

"I can't." Flowey shrugs. "I don't have the power to do that."

I sat myself on the bench. "You once said that I would become a really amazing Magical Monster. Was that true?"

Flowey bounded over and sat down next to me. "'Amazing' is seriously an understatement." He commented. "You would become a Magical Monster of unbelievable power. Definitely the strongest in the world."

I sighed a little. "It makes me wonder… if I had accepted your offer, whether Papyrus would've still become a Magical Monster."

"He made his own wish come true." Flowey shrugged. "It's completely unrelated to you."

We sat in silence for a while before I ducked my head down. "Why me?" I whispered.

"I don't know either." Flowey admitted. "To put it bluntly, the scale of your power is so great that it's not supposed to even be possible. I would like someone to explain it as well."

"I see."

"If you released your power, we wouldn't even need to speak of miracles anymore." Flowey turned to me. "It may even be enough to warp the laws of the universe! I just don't get why you have so much potential within you."

"I thought I had nothing good going for me." I admitted, staring at the sky longingly. "I thought I would continue living until I died, never being useful or a help to anyone. It's made me feel frustrated and alone, but I couldn't do anything about it."

"Well, it looks like reality turned out quite different." Flowey sounded amused. "You know, Frisk, you could even be an omnipotent god if you wish for it."

I suddenly got an idea. "I wonder if I could do what you can't."

"For example?" He inquired.

"If I contracted with you, could I return Papyrus back to normal?"

"I'm sure you could accomplish it without a problem." Flowey answered confidently. "Now the question is, would you offer your soul for that wish?"

"If it can help him, I'll do it! I'd become a-" I froze when Flowey crumpled before me, multiple bones passing through and now embedded into his body. It took me a second to realize what had happened. I gasped at the dead body, limp upon the wooden bench. D-did he just?!...

There's a clattering sound behind me. Startled, I quickly turn myself around. It's Sans with his arm raised, and there's a a blue light emitting from his left eyesocket. He did that. He did that to Flowey. I stare as he takes a few steps towards me, his gaze hard and unforgiving.

"Y-you..." I gulp. "That was terrible! You didn't have to do that!" I tried to ignore the black carcass sitting next to me on the bench. Was Flowey dead, just like that?

"Kid, why…" Sans asks instead, whirling to me and gritting his teeth. "Why do you always sacrifice yourself?" He takes more steps towards me until he's almost right in front of me, his shadow casting onto me. "Just _stop_ that. There's no need to _demean_ yourself by saying you're worthless. Im'mean, just think about the people that care about you!" He bends down suddenly, resting his hands onto my shoulders. His arms are shaking with fear. I'm surprised by the gesture, but he keeps talking. "How come you just don't realize it? Why don't you realize that there are people who care about you, and would die at the thought of losing you?" He sounds almost hysterical, and there are a few tears leaking out his eyes sockets. I'm completely startled at this, unsure about what's happening. Was he talking about… me? "Don't you think about the people who are trying to _protect_ you?"

He suddenly sets himself onto his knees, too tired to hold himself up. To upset to try to stay up any longer. Under his figure, there's splotches of wetness on the ground. "S-Sans…?" I whisper worriedly. I get up to talk to him, but my vision suddenly feels fuzzy all of a sudden. Realization flashes through me. "Have we…" He's still trembling, his hands on the ground. "Have we met before?"

"I…" He stays on the ground, unmoving. He's rigid with anxiety, but he doesn't say anything more.

But I don't have the time to stay. "I'm sorry…" I carefully move to pick up my backpack from the bench, attempting not to trigger him. "But I need to look for Papyrus…"

"Wait." He pleads, raising his head slightly. "It's too late for him… you can't-"

"I'm sorry." I repeat, backing away more. Then I turn and run, leaving him behind in the park, alone on the ground.

"Wait!" He yells suddenly, heartbroken, but I'm already leaving. His voice fades behind me as I leave him behind. "Frisk!" His voice echoes in my head, but I'm already long gone.


	10. I won't let that happen

**Note: I changed up the previous chapters, so now each chapter = one full episode of the real anime.**

* * *

The railroad station was dark, the only light being the lanterns covered by cicadas. The whole place had a meek outlook to it. Dark skies, dark columns, dark wires. Everything was closed down for the moment. It made me feel tired, seeing the night so gloomy and depressing.

I trudge down the railroad tracks, thoughts set on finding Papyrus, when I notice movements of a shadow ahead. I slowly raise my head, and am startled by the sight of moving feet. What were people doing out here so late? I snap my head up, and the sight is daunting. Sans stands not to far from behind, a dark look in his eye as Undyne trudges forward, a jar in her arms. Everyone looks bleak with shock and sadness.

"H-huh?" I'm momentarily confused. I dash forward, my feet crunching on the rocks underfoot. Undyne looks to the side, avoiding my gaze and gritting her teeth. "Guys?" Sans gives me a look, and I realize that something's wrong. "Where's Papyrus?" I ask worriedly. "What happened to him?!"

Sans doesn't dally, and just cuts straight to the explanation. "After his Soul Gem changed into a Grief Seed, it gave birth to a witch and was destroyed."

I stare at him, blinking. Not understanding. My legs suddenly feel weak, like all the energy was sucked right out of it. "What?" I fall to my knees, my stare empty. "That… that can't be true…"

Sans' expression is grave. "Well, it is. It's actually the final secret regarding the Soul Gems." He brings out his own, and it sits upon his his skeletal hand. It's a royal blue, dark and illuminating. "When these Soul Gems darken and cloud over, they turn to Grief Seeds and we're reborn. As witches." I stare at the Gem, slowly taking the information in " _That_ is the inevitable fate of those who have become Magic Monsters."

Undyne flinches away at the message, but I refuse to believe it. "It's not true." I demand, getting back up. I stare at the jar in Undyne's arms, and the truth starts to sink in, but I don't want it to be true. "It's not! Right?"

A train rushes past us on a different railroad next to us, loud and blaring, but we all act oblivious to it. Papyrus is all that matters.

I want to deny it, but I know it won't be any good. I find myself kneeling back down again, weak from shock and disbelief. "But… why…?" I'm trembling, barely holding myself together. This wasn't a fate that Papyrus deserved. He was always trying to be good. He was always trying his best. "He just wanted to save people. He wanted to be a hero. He became a Magical Monster for that." My hands dig into the rocks, and I try to prop myself up, but I'm too scared. "So why?"

"Welp." Sans shrugs a little. "He just ended up bearing a curse as powerful as his wish. So… now he'll live cursing as many people as he's saved."

Undyne bends down to finally place Papyrus on the ground. Or at least, the remains of him. His dust sits still in the jar, unmoving and small. I reach forward, and hug it into my arms. Papyrus' dust. Without his soul to keep him together, he's turned into dust. Then suddenly, I'm crying. I clutch it as tightly as I can, but the tears keep spilling, and I feel horrible.

Papyrus is gone. He's dead.

Then suddenly, Undyne whips around and clutches Sans' collar before bringing him up to her face. He's hanging in the air, but he looks unbothered. However, Undyne's expression is angry. "Just _who_ the heck do you think you are?!" She spits. "Are you trying to _brag_ about how much you know?" Sans doesn't respond, and Undyne just clutches him harder. "How can you say all that like you're _so_ _proud_ of yourself, huh? That's Papyrus' _best friend_ right there, you know that? You _know_ that?"

But Sans just turns to me, a serious look in his eye. "You now understand what you aspired to be, dont'cha?" I don't reply, still crying over the jar's lid. Sans shakes himself free, and Undyne finally lets go, anger drained out from her. "Since you have his dust, you'll have to be careful about where you place it. Leaving it lying around carelessly might spark some trouble between the peace treaty of humans and monsters."

"And you call yourself _human_?" Undyne sneers at his casual tone.

"Of course not." He says steely, expression large and grim. "But neither are you." Undyne grits her teeth at him, but she doesn't stop him as he turns around and walks away. Because the truth is, he's right.

* * *

I sit on my bed, still in shock. Staring at the bedsheets, like it'll help me somehow. But it's not.

There's a light outside my window, but I don't bother to notice it until the shadow of Flowey appears. He sits on the windowsill, an eyebrow raised. "Mind if little ol' me comes in?" He asks. "There's some things we need to talk about."

"So you _are_ alive…" I mumble. At this point, it honestly didn't surprise me all that much.

I don't open the window for him, but he invites himself in. In the next moment, he's sitting next to the stuffed animals on my bed. I figure that I might as well make the most of it while he's here, so I ask meekly, "Was Sans… right?"

"There's nothing wrong that needs me to correct." Flowey answers, raising a paw.

I raise my head, hope drained. Not like there was much in the first place. "So you turn everyone into Magical Monsters just to have them transform into witches later?" I accuse.

"Hey," Flowey prompts a little disapprovingly. "Don't misunderstand this; it's not like I have any malice to you guys or anything. I'm just doing this for the greater good. Like, you do know what 'entropy' is, right?" I mumble something undecipherable. "Well, an example would be the heat energy gained by burning wood in a campfire. It's unequal to the amount of energy it takes to grow the tree you're burning. When converting energy between forms, there's always a loss somewhere. And so, basically the energy in the world is diminishing."

He shrugs a little. "That's why I searched for a form of energy not bound by these laws, and we discovered the perfect solution." He smirks triumphantly. "It was the magical energy from _Magic Monsters_. Sounds great, right?"

I raise my head, narrowing my eyes. "What _are_ you?"

"We developed the technology to convert emotions of lifeforms into energy." Flowey says instead. "But unfortunately, I don't have emotions, or a soul for that matter. We lack any sort of feeling. So we look for various types of species across the universe, and I found your earth." He wiggles his eyebrows. "See, the number of human and monster individuals and their constant reproduction rate indicates that the emotional energy produced way exceeds the energy expended in its growth. Basically, your souls are capable of generating enough energy to _overcome_ entropy!

"We've also found that the most effective source of energy comes from the phase of change between hope and despair. When a Soul Gem burns away to turn into a Grief Seed, an enormous amount of energy is released. It's our job, _my_ job, as Flowey the incubator, to collect that energy."

"So we're just disposable to you." I whisper. "We die for you."

"Don't you know how much energy is used up every second in the universe?" Flowey asks. "Someday, you'll all leave this planet to join us. You wouldn't want an empty, desolate universe then, would you? So looking in the long term, this is beneficial to you as well!"

"You can't be serious." I growl, facing Flowey. "You're saying that Alphys and Papyrus went through all that just for some _crazy_ reason like that? That's so…" I look down, unable to find words horrific enough to describe the circumstances.

"Well." Flowey shrugs nonchalantly. "Our contracts _are_ completely dependent upon your approval first. I think that's already rather kind of us, isn't it?"

"You're just _tricking_ us!" I accuse.

"What does it mean to 'trick' someone?" Flowey asks amusedly. "For some reason, whenever people regret a choice due to a misunderstanding with someone else, they start to hate that person. Why even?"

"I don't even follow you anymore." I mumble, putting my head back into my lap. "It's unacceptable."

"Well, we have a pretty hard time understanding your value system too." Flowey huffs. "I mean, right now there are more than seven billion of you living on this planet, and every four seconds, you grow by ten. Why's there always such a fuss about one dying or living?"

"...you really are our enemies."

"Well ya know, I just came here to explain my actions to you." Flowey shrugs. "I was hoping to convince you of knowing how significant your sacrifices are, but it looks like that won't be happening anytime soon."

"Duh." I want to spit at him, but something tells me that won't do any good.

"Listen Frisk." Flowey says with awed inspiration. "Someday, you will become the greatest Magical Monster, and then the worst witch. And in that moment, we'll get huge amounts of energy. Amounts that no one has ever seen before. So, if you ever feel like dying to save the universe, just let me know!" I turn to him, and fangs suddenly appear on his mouth. "I'll be waiting." He grins.

And he hops away, and then the light's gone. Flowey's gone.

* * *

I walk to school the next morning, a little dazed. Napstablook seems worried for my well-being. "You don't… seem very well…" He notes. "You… okay…?"

"Um, yeah. I didn't sleep well last night." At least that much was true.

"And is Papyrus… absent again…?"

I look to my right, where Papyrus would normally walk with us, but of course he's not there. He's gone now, forever. He won't be coming back.

"Should we go… see him?" Napstablook suggests, then rethinks it before turning away. "Although… nevermind…"

"Napsta." I sigh. "I-"

"Why are ya still going to school, punk?!" I stop in my tracks as Undyne's voice rings through my mind. She was telepathically speaking to me! "You're acting like nothing's happened after all that?" I pause, and turn around. Napstablook notices my strange behavior.

"Frisk…?" He asks, unsure.

"I need to talk to ya." Undyne continues. "Maybe you could spare a moment or something?"

I suddenly set my mind. Quickly turning to Napstablook, I shake my head. "Sorry Napsta, but… I'm not gonna go to school today either!" Then I turn and sprint off before he can stop me.

"H-huh? Wait… did I do something…" His voice fades behind me as I run.

* * *

I meet Undyne in an alleyway sandwiched between a couple apartment buildings. She stands there waiting, eating a pocky stick in her mouth as usual. "Um." I start. "What was it you wanted to talk about?..."

Her expression is serious, and she steps towards me, her gaze fierce. "Do you want to save Papyrus?"

"Huh?" My eyes widen. "W-we can save him?"

"Even if we couldn't, would you just forget about him?" Undyne challenges. When she sees my expression, her gaze softens and she goes to reword her phrase. "Um, what I meant was… well, this sounds pretty stupid. But! I'm not giving up until we know for sure that that knuckle-head can't be saved." I blink at the confession, and Undyne sighs. "He might be a witch now, but he _just_ might remember the voice of a friend. If you call to him, he might remember the old times. The only possibility for that is _you_."

Silence stands between us until I ask, "Do you think it'll work?" I don't want to get too worked up in case it doesn't, but I can't help being hopeful.

"...I have _no_ idea!" She admits, cackling. "But! I'm proposing that we do it _because_ we don't know! Ya know, like, maybe cutting the witch in half will just make Papyrus' soul gem fall out instead of a Grief Seed. Stories of courage and magical princesses always end up like that, right?!" She suddenly brings out her own gem. It's a vibrant green, glowing in her hands. "But now thinking on it…" She suddenly sounds wistful. "One reason I became a Magical Monster was because I always loved those stories. It didn't really cross my mind… until Papyrus. He made me remember." She notices my empty stare, and suddenly grows indignant. "Well, if you don't _wanna_ do it, I ain't gonna force ya! Because… it _will_ be dangerous! I can't promise to protect you all the time."

I quickly shake my head. "No! Of course I'll help. I _want_ you to let me help." I step forward, and raise my hand for a handshake of agreement. "Frisk." I say my name.

Undyne stares at it for a moment before cackling. "Darn, you're really _cramping_ my style!"

"Huh?"

"Undyne." She replies, grinning. She reaches her hand forward, a Cinnamon Bunny snack in her hand. "And let's do this."

I grab onto the other end of the package, feeling a little surprised. I smile sheepishly as I raise the snack to my height to examine it. "O-Okay…"

* * *

We scale the building, passing under the roof and the columns holding it up. As usual, there's food in Undyne's scaly hands. "I wonder if Sans can help us?" I ponder.

"He probably wouldn't do something like that, seeing that he's such a bone-head." Undyne grumbles, popping some shishkabob into her mouth.

"But… isn't he a friend?"

"No." She replies flatly, then pauses to reconsider. "Well, we could both be after the same thing… since we're both taking down something each of us can't do alone." She sighs. "In a few days, a Walpurgis Night will come to this city."

"Walpurgis?"

"A super-dreadnought-class witch." She replies. "The two of us aren't likely to beat it alone. That's why we're teaming up. It's just how it is between us."

We walk a little longer, passing by more abandoned halls before coming to a stop. Undyne's gem is out in front of her, pulsating brightly. "Looks like we've got the place!" She concludes loudly.

She breaks apart the fence in front of us, and we enter the abandoned factory. We climb some stairs, and past the construction floors and pipes of the area. It's a strange place to be; it feels dangerous. "I wonder if it's really Paps." I ponder. "What if it's another witch?"

"The magical energy pattern matches the one from yesterday." Undyne reassures me. "It's _definitely_ him." The gem in her hand glows all the more brightly, and we stop before a white door. She raises her arm and transforms, her red uniform on and her spear weapon in hand. She turns to me. "Last warning." She says. "No turning back after this."

"I-I'm sure!" I reply, trying to sound as sure as I want to. "I mean, I'm already kinda used to this already. But I'd always followed from behind, not being useful. So this time… please take me with you."

"Huh! You're a really weird punk!" She grins. "But I can respect that." Then she turns back forward and slices her spear through something I can't see, and an opening is presented to us. Then it grows bigger until it envelops us.

We're in a brick hallway. There's a lot of posters on the walls, advertising popular shows. It's obviously not the real world. We're in the labyrinth now. "Undyne?" I whisper tensely.

"Yeah?"

"Am I a coward for letting someone else do all the fighting for me while I don't do anything myself?"

"Well, why would _you_ become a Magical Monster?"

"Why? Because…"

I stop when Undyne turns to me. "Don't take this lightly." She demands harshly. "Not just _everyone_ can do this job! See, you already have good food and family every day. If someone had no problems with their life and became a Magical Monster just because they felt like it, I would never forgive them. I'd kick their ass before anything else!" I hesitate at her words. "Putting your life in danger should only be done by those who have no other choice. Anyone else? They're just brats doing it for fun. Basically, messing around."

"Is that… true?"

"Well, someday you may have to fight to put your life on the line, whether you want to or not. But only think about it when the time comes, okay punk?" I nod to her statement.

We're finally approaching the door at the end of the hall. We pensively push it open, and it creaks quietly. On the other side is what looks like an aquarium, except where the tanks are, they're replaced with footages of Papyrus' memories. My heart clenches just looking at them. We quietly pad through the hall, our footsteps tapping on the red floor beneath us. There's some scenes where he's fighting witches, and there's others where he's speaking with Undyne. I feel even worse just looking at them.

"Undyne." I start. "Why do you-" I'm interrupted when the doors slam shut behind us, and I whirl around in surprise. The room is dark, the aquarium footages gone.

"We've been noticed." Undyne warns me. "He's coming!" Suddenly, the hall is speeding past us, like we're sitting on a train. Consecutive walls, columns, and doorways pass us until we reach the end, where a bright burst of light bathes onto us.

The whole roof is covered in red plates of deformed spaghetti. Movie and acting stars surround us as they dance and sing, but their forms are bent and their colors are raw. I gasp as the witch takes form before me, looming above us. He wears wicked armor, a blue cape billowing out behind him like a fan. There's a huge fancy crown-like thing sitting upon his head, and they reach outwards like ears. He roars and sways as he waves his white sword at us. That's not Papyrus, it _can't_ be… but it is.

"Do it like we planned!" Undyne yells. "Okay?!"

"R-right!" My legs are wobbly at the sight of so much chaos around me, but I start to call out to him. "Papyrus! It's me." I gulp at the sight of him. He looks so scary, but I know I have to stay brave for him. "It's me, Frisk! Can you hear me? Do you recognize my voice?" But he only raises his sword, red fumes swirling from it as wheels made of bone speed into the air.

Undyne immediately steps in front of my protectively. "Don't falter." She commands. "Keep talking!"

"Papyrus! Stop it!" I plead. "Please remember! This isn't something you'd want to do!"

Undyne flips and readies her spear, scowling. She creates a red barrier, and it surrounds me. The wheels navigate around the walls of the dome, and the room feels like it's spinning. The stars are still dancing. Then the wheels pop off the walls, speeding towards us.

"You wanted to be a hero, right Paps?" It's like I'm choking on my words. Nothing's happening. He's not reacting. "P-please! Go back to yourself!

Undyne's spear collides with the wheels, her dress flying. They ricochet off of her, and bounce off like basketballs. She blocks more of them, and they grind on her spear leaving flying sparks. "You can _only_ be so difficult, punk!" She yells to the witch. The wheel finally deflects off, and a cloud of dust billows around us.

But he only raises his sword again, and this time, bones appear in the air. There are so many of them, I don't even have the time to count them all before they're flying down on us. I gasp at the sight of it, and they barrage Undyne like bullets. More clouds are stirred, and I can barely see anything in the mess of it all. The barrier in front of me disappears, and I wonder if she's alright.

"U-Undyne!" I call out worriedly.

The dust clears, and I see Undyne surrounded by scattered bones. She pushes a large wheel off of her, bent over and huffing. But she's managing a grin all the same, and she gives me a thumbs up. "I'm fine!" She insists. "This ain't _nothing_! Just keep calling out to Papyrus!"

She remakes the barrier, putting her spear out in front of her. I resume to calling, but the wheels above us are so daunting. "Stop it! _Stop it!_ Papyrus, recognize us!" I scream at Papyrus to listen, but nothing happens. The stars still dance, oblivious to us. Wheels and bones strike Undyne relentlessly, and she can barely move quickly enough to avoid them. She's hurt, she's weak, and she can't last much longer. She looks like she's losing hope. This is going terribly.

Huge wheels suddenly strike her right into her own barrier, and she falls as it shatters to pieces. She's struggling to pick herself up. There's scratches all over her, and a stream of red is flowing down her cheek. I rush over to help her, but the witch extends his arm and I'm suddenly in the grasp of a huge metallic hand. It clenches so hard, and the feeling is so tight. I struggle, but it just makes the hand crush me harder. It feels like he's squeezing the life out of me. There are black spots on the edges of my vision. "Paps," I plead. "Please…"

Then, Undyne leaps upward, cutting off the arm entirely. It rips to shreds, splurting out blue liquid. Undyne looks dark and furious. "You said you could make people happy with this power!" She screams furiously, and the hope is suddenly leaving her all at once.

But he doesn't listen. He strikes downwards, sword hitting the floor. Rocks and pebbles bounce from the impact, and the floor is suddenly collapsing. We're floating down into a blue world of aquarium windows. All of us are falling; even the witch. I can't control my fall. From far away, I can see Undyne barely holding back tears. She's lost hope for all of this. We're doomed. The world spins us, and I suddenly feel someone holding onto me. He drifts to the ground and turns around to say something to Undyne, but I can't hear them. They all seem so far away.

He picks me back up, and then we leap away.

And then behind us, the world suddenly explodes in a huge burst of green light.


	11. I won't rely on anyone any longer

**Sans POV**

My skeletal fingers fiddle with the bag handle as I face the class, and my teeth grind together to keep myself from losing my nerve.

"Okay, dearie!" Mrs. Muffet starts annoyingly, waving one of her arms invitingly. "Try introducing yourself to everyone!"

I hesitate a moment. The whole class's curious eyes are on me, waiting for me to speak. "I'm Sans." I manage finally. "Nice to… meet you all."

"Sans has been in the hospital for a long time due to his fractured rib-bone." Muffet explains cheerily, writing my name on the board. "He hasn't been to school for a while, so I'm sure he'll be quite confused. However, I hope you dearies will help out our new classmate, yes?"

The students nod eagerly, their happy gazes trained on me. I look down at the ground in disgust.

* * *

"Hey Sans, where did you go to school before?"

"Were you in any clubs?"

"Did you play any sports? How about art?"

"How's it like being a skeleton? Having no hair must be really strange!"

I stare at them emptily, not sure how to respond. I _must_ have been visibly sweating. All this pressure was getting to me. I couldn't remember; was school always like this? Why were there so many people surrounding me? It was pretty chaotic, to say in the least. Why couldn't the crowds just go away-

"Sans?" I raise my head warily, and I see that it's another student. Great. "You need to go the the nurse's office, right? Do you know where it is?" Her voice is chipper, but it's different from the tones the others use.

I narrow my eyes. "No…"

"I'll can take you there then." She replies, her brown bangs swinging as she smiles. "I'm the health officer for this class." She explains. She then pauses before turning to address the little crowd surrounding me. "Sorry everyone, but Sans has to go attend to the nurse's office during breaks."

"Oh, really?" One of the people behind me apologizes. "Sorry for keeping you."

"Talk to you later, Sans." Another says. And thus, the crowd disperses, leaving just me and the kid. I sigh a breath of relief.

* * *

She walks in front of me confidently, smiling all the way. "Sorry about that." She says, referring to the crowd that had surrounded me before. "They're not trying to be mean. It's just rare to have a transfer student, so they're all excited over it."

"It's fine." I mumble. "Thanks anyway."

"There's no need to be that nervous!" She replies brightly. She's getting it wrong, but I don't correct her. "We're classmates, after all!" I keep following her as we turn the corner, and I catch some students staring at us curiously. "My name is Frisk Dreemur," She suddenly blurts out. "But you can just call me Frisk."

"...huh."

"And I can just call you Sans, right?"

I raise my bone-brow. "Not much else you can call me." I grumble through my teeth, turning my head to the side. " 's weird."

"Huh?" She tilts her head to the side cutely, interest in her gaze. "That's not true! It sounds like a really cool and exciting name!"

"Welp, it's nothing like my name then."

She suddenly stops, and I wonder if she's annoyed with me already, but she just turns around with a reassuring grin on her face. "Aw, don't say that!" She smiles sheepishly, but continues nevertheless. "You have a wonderful name, so you can just be cooler to match it!"

I can't help it, but I have to avoid her gaze. Her enthusiasm is dangerously contagious.

* * *

 _Given that p is a prime number, and n is an arbitrary natural number, prove that (1+p)^p-n^p-1 is divisible by p._

"How about you try this problem, dearie?~"

I stare at the words on the screen, completely baffled. What was this ridiculous problem? Quantum physics I could handle, but _this_? This was outrageously impossible. How could anyone solve this? I cast a backwards glance at the class, and they give me expectant stares. No one looks confused. They already know how to answer it. Only I don't.

I raise my arm for a moment, to at least perform the act that I may know the answer, but once the pen reaches the board, I'm stuck. I think on writing something, _anything_ , to make it look like I know what I'm doing, but my mind is clogged. My arm trembles at being held up for so long. I can feel the pressure of the class's peering eyes, and I'm suddenly feeling very overwhelmed.

"Oh, you were away from school, weren't you dearie?" My shoulders are shaking, but I try to hide it. "Make sure you borrow notes from a friend, okay?"

* * *

"He got light-headed just from warm-up exercises?" Someone whispers in the crowd. "Man, that's pretty bad."

"Well, he couldn't do much when he was trapped in a bed of a hospital. It can't be helped."

I sit in the corner of a shady column, trying to catch my breath. I tiredly wipe the towel over my skull, trying to get rid of the beads of sweat residing there. It wasn't my fault I was so out of shape. Well, not saying that I was regularly in shape anyway. It wasn't like not being trapped in a hospital bed could have presented a different outcome either way.

I can only sit and watch as the other students participate in the class. It's honestly kinda embarrassing; I just sit here and speculate as they work their butts off. They run laps on the track and perform high jumps on the squishy mats. I kinda wanna just sleep there too, but I can't. I'm stuck here, trying to regain my bearings from a simple warm-up exercise.

I take another deep breath and close my eyes. I'll just rest here for a while.

* * *

 _Sans, you can just be cooler to match it!_

I can't do that.

The sneakers pass over the yellow tiles of the bridge, and the shadows pass over the sneakers. I notice that, once again, the laces are untied. I sigh at my own laziness, but keep walking.

All I do is cause trouble for everyone. Not to mention that I constantly embarrass myself too, while I'm at it. Will it always be this way? Will it always be like this?

 _Then it'd be better if you just died then, huh?_

Huh. Maybe it would.

 _Yeah, you should just die._

Just die, huh? I close my eyes briefly, then suddenly snap them open when I realize that something is off. I come to a complete stop, and finally realize that I'm not walking on the yellow tiles anymore. Instead, the ground is covered in strange black designs of humans' body parts. There's haunting eyes too, staring back at me.

Startled, I raise my skull. My eye sockets widen at the sight. I'm not even _on_ the bridge anymore. Black hills of corpses lie around here and there, and a swirling red sky looms above. It looks almost like a graveyard, with crosses standing up all over the place. It's like I'm inside a painting of doom. The whole place reeks of dangerous secrets.

"Where…" I narrow my eyes. "...is this?"

There's rumbling noises behind me. I turn, and a stone archway rises from the ground. It's intricately designed with fancy sculptured people and everything. Wary, I take a step back. Suddenly, creepy paper people appear from under the archway, moaning and groaning in my direction. They move towards me like zombies, hands outstretched and faces disoriented.

My bony hands tremble, but I know I have to run. I attempt another step back, but end up tripping on my own stupid shoelace and falling over. Of course. Any other normal human being would've been able to run away just fine, but I couldn't. Not me. Not stupid-ass lazy me. I hurry to pick myself back up, but they're already too close. There's no escape.

But then from behind, I hear gun shots and see arrows sailing through the sky. They strike the paper enemies down in an instant, and one hits the archway square in the area above it.

Beautiful yellow ribbons appear, and they swarm the archway. In the next moment, they tighten themselves around the stone, wrapping and trapping the enemies down with it. My eyes widen with surprise.

"T-that was close." It's a yellow monster in a strange costume. She carries a long gun in her arms.

Someone in a poofy pink dress stands up next to her, carrying a bow in her's. "It's okay now, Sans!" She reassures me. It takes me a moment to realize how she knows my name, but when I see her bangs, I recognize her as the health officer from my class. _Frisk_. I'm surprised I can even remember the name at all.

"You're…" I start, but don't know how to finish. There must be obvious confusion on my face.

"They're Magical Monsters." Comes the reply from behind, and I turn to see who it is. "They hunt witches." My eyes widen further when I see that it's a creature with a flower on his head. It's so strange, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it.

Frisk and the other girl ready their weapons, pointing at the wrapped-up archway. "Who knew someone would find out about our secret so quickly?" They tease. "Just don't tell our class, okay?"

And they fire, blasting the archway into smithereens, and letting off bunches of pretty explosions like fireworks. It's huge and magnificent, bright and brilliant. I can only stare in awe as I watch it happen.

* * *

"So Frisk," I ponder, raising an eyebrow. "You always go 'round fighting those things?"

We're in Alphys' room, in which I've learned is the yellow lizard's name, and it's honestly pretty messy. The couch is torn, the carpet's bland, and every square inch of table surface was covered with either some kind of lab experiment, junk food, or anime disc. At least her snacks were pretty good.

"Always?" Frisk ponders before chuckling nervously. "Well, only Alphys is the veteran here. I just only contracted with Flowey last week."

"B-but!" Alphys contradicts, a grin on her face. "You've had so much improvement! The way you fought today was much better than before!" Frisk smiles back sheepishly, embarrassed from the praise.

"But you're fine?" I ask, worried. "You're not… I dunno, scared?"

"Well, we _are_." Frisk responds honestly. "But every time we take out a witch, we save a lot of people! It's worth it, isn't it?" She turns to Alphys, and she nods earnestly. I can't help grinning at her casual enthusiasm. Even Flowey seems to agree as he sits on the table. I don't even wanna question what he's doing here in the first place.

"It's good that she's a Magical Monster." Alphys agrees promptly. "After all, we'll be needing her before the _Walpurgis Night_ arrives."

* * *

The world's in chaos. The sky is grey with ash. Broken trees float in the air, dismembered at their trunks, and a witch in a blue dress stands in the middle of it all, upside-down as the gears turn under her. We're the only ones left, standing on a bridge that, for some reason, still hasn't crumpled yet like the rest of the world.

Frisk and I are on our knees. And between us lays a limp and lifeless Alphys.

"...I'll be going, then." Frisk finally decides, getting up.

"Don't." I plead. "She… Alphys _died_ from that."

"That's why I _have_ to go." Frisk replies. "I'm the only one left who can stop the Walpurgis Night."

"You can't win against _that_! It's hopeless!" Then after a deep ragged breath, "You'll _die_ too, kid!"

"I'm still a Magical Monster." She insists. "I have to protect everyone."

I hesitate. "Can't we just… run away?" I swallow a breath, stalling and trying to fake up excuses. It was cowardly and selfish but I knew I couldn't let Frisk go, no matter what. "There's no other choice. It's the only way. No one will hate you for it."

"Sans." She turns, a small smile on her face. "I'm glad I met you. I'm glad I could be friends with you. I had made it just in time when you were attacked by that witch and… I'm still proud of that. So… I'll always be glad I became a Magic Monster. I really am."

She sounds so sincere even at times of death like these, and I feel tears crawling down my cheek bones, no matter how hard I want to hold them back. "Kid…" I beg. "Please…"

"Goodbye, Sans." A last look. "Be well." Then she turns and rushes away before jumping towards the witch, straight to her death.

" _No!_ " I cry out, reaching upwards, though I know it won't do any good. "Please, don't go!" She's fading away from my sight now, too far away to hear me. I call out to the emptiness. " _Friiiisk!_ "

But nobody came.

* * *

The boulders are broken, the cities torn and the wires ripped. The sky's a tan yellow, and it's raining. The world feels grey. I'm sitting in damp puddle, the raindrops hopping off the surface like bugs, creating ripples among it's purple surface.

Before me lies a limp and lifeless girl with brown bangs.

"Why…?" I tremble, tears flowing out my eye sockets. I'm soaked but I don't care. "You knew you were going to die, and yet…" I pause momentarily to keep out the hiccups. "I wanted you to _live_ , ya know?… Instead of saving me, if that's what had to be done to save you…"

"Is that so?" An annoying voice sounds from a rock above. "Now the question is, would you be willing to trade your soul for that wish?" Flowey pads around on the rock above, but I can barely hear the stupid weed over the death ringing in my ears. "If you _just_ happen to have any desires so strong that you'd be willing to accept a fate of combat, then I can help you."

I'm finally listening. I raise my head, trying to ignore the lifeless body next to me. "Really?" I ask. "If I contract with you… can I really have any wish I want granted?" There's doubt there, but the hope isn't gone quite yet. If I can save Frisk, if I can change this _terrible_ fate, I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes.

"Correct." Flowey grins, petals twitching. "You qualify. Now tell me…" He stands taller on the rock, facing me seriously and majestically. "With what wish will you make your Soul Gem shine?"

It's that simple? "I…" I gulp, calming myself down so that I can make the perfect wish. I only have one chance at this. What can I say to cover everything that needs to be fixed? I slowly stand up, rubbing my eye sockets before turning to look squarely at Flowey. "I wish to relive meeting Frisk for the first time again," I say clearly. "Not as someone she protects, but as someone that can protect her instead."

"Well said." Flowey comments, and then there's suddenly a burning sensation in my rib cage. I clutch at my chest, trying to stifle the sensation. It's painful, and it brings back too many memories of fractured bones.

I can't hold it back. Something is moving out of my body now, and it's like it's being forced out. It passes through my sternum, and then my jacket, before appearing before us. I can still feel the tingling in my bones, but I'm more focused on the sparkly object before me.

"The contract is complete." Flowey announces. "Your desire has overcome entropy. Now…" He grins more broadly, almost sadistically. "Release your new power!"

I reach forward, and my skeletal hands clasp around the object floating in the air. It shines in my hands, and my vision is suddenly fading before me. There are blue and purple sparks dancing everywhere, and metal is churning at the edge of my vision.

The gears turn.

And time is suddenly moving back.

* * *

I snap my eyes open in surprise. I'm on a bed. There's wind outside, blowing the blue hospital curtains open. I sit myself up, suddenly confused. Where was I? I look to the wall to see a calendar. There's markings on it, red crosses and pink circles to mark important dates. Apparently, I haven't even been released from the hospital yet.

I move to scratch my head in confusion, but stop when I feel an object in my left hand. Slowly, I bring it up to my face. I startle at the sight of it.

It's a dark blue gem, shining meekly in my skeletal palm. "It wasn't a dream…" I realize. A chuckle escapes my teeth, and I lay back down into the covers.

* * *

"Okay, dearie!" Mrs. Muffet starts, waving one of her arms invitingly. "Try introducing yourself to everyone!"

"Hey. I'm Sans." I smile, my eyes trailing over the class to find the kid. An idea suddenly pops into my mind, and I grin wider. "And let's just say that I'm… _Sans_ -ational!"

A moment of silence, and I'm wondering if anyone got the terrible pun, but then the class is bursting into laughter. I've finally found her; she's sitting near the back of the class, and she's laughing too. Knowing that she's happy because of something _I_ said… it makes all my bones feel warm.

...It looks like I'll have to learn more puns.

Mrs. Muffet can only smile sheepishly, but she moves to write my name on the board nevertheless. "Now dearies," She starts to explain, "Sans has been in the hospital for a long time due to his fractured rib-" She stops when I interrupt her by moving forwards to an empty seat. But on the way, I pass by Frisk's table and lean down a bit to speak into her ear.

"Guess who just became a Magical Monster?" I whisper cheekily.

* * *

"Welp, here I go." I make an attempt to charge forwards, a club in my hand. It's only too late once I've realized how ridiculous I must look, but there's no time to go back. I finger my shield device, trying to figure out how to get it to work.

The gears turn.

And suddenly, time stops. The whole world is black and white, a frozen timespace. Only I can move. I charge forward, but somehow manage to trip before I even reach the damn practice dummy.

Stupid shoelaces.

I get back up again and bonk the top of the dummy. It gives me a look, like it's asking if I'm even trying. Rolling my pupils, I strike it on the side. This time, it bends like it's been struck with a hot waffle iron. Grinning in triumph, I knock it a few more times on the head.

Not much time passes before the gears stop, and by then, the dummy's beaten up pretty badly. Though, I can't say I'm much better. I fall to the ground, huffing. No matter what timeline I was in, I could never seem to be in a good physical condition.

Alphys and Frisk spectate the dummy's condition, trying to figure out how effective or poorly I had managed the attack.

"What do you think?" Frisk asks Alphys.

"S-stopping time, huh?" Alphys taps her chin thoughtfully. "I-It's pretty amazing! B-but the question is how to use it…"

I hear them talking, and I immediately set my mind on finding an answer to the question myself.

* * *

There's clotheslines everywhere, white shirts hanging from them like feathers as they stretch across the wide expanse of blue, cloud-filled skies. Wooden chairs were falling. That was certainly something.

I cling onto a clothesline, barely able to hold on. This was ridiculous. Why was I ruining all this clean laundry, while attempting to avoid falling chairs at the same time? I growl at the thought of it, and debate on whether or not I should stop time yet.

No, not yet. Alphys and Frisk are doing fine. They balance along the lines like ballerinas, avoiding projectiles and running across to the witch in the center of the mess.

Yeah, the dang witch. She's shaped like a spider, and the clotheslines are like her webs, spun in perfection to trap her prey. Only, this spider wears high-school uniforms. And it has six arms, even two in the place of her legs, which would basically make her an insect instead… But I just think spiders make a better imagery.

"What do you call an undercover spider?" I call out to Frisk. She diverts her attention to me momentarily, and I grin cheekily. "A _spy_ -der!"

Frisk rolls her eyes, but there's a smile on her face. Things are falling out under the witch's skirt. I try not to look, but I catch the sight of more miniature skirts and legs. The fall vertically onto us, their feet wearing red shoes with sharp blades at the end. Frisk bounds forward before ducking, flinging arrows into the air and deflecting the skirts.

"Alphys, now!" She calls out.

"O-okay!" Comes her response. She's almost climbing vertically up another clothesline, but I'm more focused on her ribbon tactics. They zoom upwards in spirals before stretching out and clinging onto all the nearby lines, pulling them together before constructing a bridge straight to the witch. "Your turn, Sans!"

"Right." I mumble quickly, hopping off the line I had been clinging onto for the entirety of the whole battle. And I had started to grow fond of it too… but now wasn't the time for that.

The gears turn.

I land on Alphys' ribbon constructed bridge. It's surprisingly sturdy, even if there are a few gaps in between the ribbons. Or… maybe it's just not moving because time is frozen. Who knows? I jog down the bridge, trying not to trip on the holes. I'm making slow but steady progress. I take ahold of the bomb in my hand, readying it.

Yeah, I made it myself. Got a problem with that?

I tap the top of it, pressing a button and activating it. It starts to beep, a red light flashing. I'm running out of breath, but now's not the time to quit. I jump upwards when the bridge line runs out, and I toss it as far as I can manage to throw it. It ends up somewhere inside the witch's skirt, and I try to not to feel bad for it as time pulls back together.

It explodes behind me in fiery fire, and I can almost hear the witch burning away to death. And now, I'm falling down. At the speed I was going, I would definitely collide with the ground. Clotheslines and trails of smoke pass me, and everything's moving around me so fast that I have to momentarily shut my eye sockets.

But then suddenly, yellow ribbons surround me. They grab ahold of me before creating a soft surface that I can lay on. Relief floods through me. It starts its slow descent, and I blink in awe.

"We… did it." I say. A grin is slowly making its way onto my face.

The ribbon disappears, but now there's a different force onto me. "We did it!" Frisk yelps happily, hugging me like a teddy bear. I can't find myself to push her away. Her enthusiasm is always contagious. "That was _amazing_!" She squeals, kicking her legs like a puppy.

"Makes me wish I had a _web_ cam for that." I wink.

"G-great job, team!" Alphys cheers, standing on the grass next to us. She doesn't look as excited as Frisk, but the pride in her eyes is proof enough of her happiness.

Frisk is still strangling me, but I don't mind. "That was amazing, Sans!" She repeats. " _Amazing!_ " I grin in response, happy. And I believe that now, things will end differently. And maybe even for the better.

* * *

We're here again, at the end. But this time, something's different.

Her hand trembles as she holds her gem. It's usual bright red is gone, replaced with a more scarlet color of blood. It's turning darker, and black spots appear inside it. Frisk fidgets as she lets out yelps of pain. Her eyes are squeezed shut as she attempts to hold herself together.

Something's wrong. But what? "K-kid!" I bend down to reassure her, but I'm equally as worried as her. "You gotta hold on!"

Her body gives a sudden jerk, and she screams. In her hand, the gem crumples in on itself before letting out a black stream of evil. It floods into the sky, and as I look up, lightning strikes the earth. The smoke is curling around in evil ways, and I'm starting to make out distinct shapes of a menacing face and eyes.

It's terrifying. For the first few moments, I don't understand what's happening. The shape above me contorts as it slowly makes its form, sucking in the water from the puddles like a hurricane vortex.

A witch.

I'm slowly starting to realize what's happening, and for one, this is not my desired ending.

The gears turn.

* * *

I shoot out of bed, the fat covers getting flung off the mattress. I'm back in the hospital. Everything looks normal.

But I still remember.

"...I _have_ to tell them." I decide suddenly, already starting to get out of bed, even though my tibia and fibula feel like wobbly jello. "Everyone's being _tricked_ by that stupid weed!"

* * *

Papyrus turns slowly. "I AM AFRAID THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" He obviously doesn't believe in me. "WHY WOULD FLOWEY LIE TO US ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

We're in another abandoned factory. Surrounding us are fat, red pipes that extend all around us in a mess of complicated layers. The four of us stand together in the center of it all. Here, no one can hear us talk.

"Well." I sigh through my teeth, a little exasperated at this other skeleton. "That's because-"

"WHY WOULD YOU TELL US THESE WEIRD THINGS?" Papyrus guesses, then makes a face of realization. "WAIT. YOU'RE NOT WORKING WITH _UNDYNE_ , RIGHT?"

"What?" My face scrunches up at the accusation, and I suddenly feel anger building up in me. I'm here trying to help, trying to deliver this _hella_ important information, and this is the thanks I get? " _No_ , I'm-"

"Please," Frisk cuts in. "Let's stop fighting amongst ourselves." Alphys looks on from the side, nodding her head slightly but not saying anything.

Papyrus sighs dramatically. "BUT STILL! I REFUSE TO TEAM UP WITH YOU!" He hesitates. "NOT BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT 'COOL,' OF COURSE! BUT BECAUSE YOU USE BOMBS!" He waves his hands around in annoyance. "SEE, FRISK AND ALPHYS USE PROJECTILES, SO IT'S FINE! BUT EXPLOSIONS!" His eyes widen. "I CAN'T HANDLE THEM!"

I huff, amused. "Jeez, guess you're really _blowing this up_ in my face, huh?"

Frisk giggles, but Papyrus looks more angry. He stomps a bit on the ground as if to prove it. "SANS, THIS IS SERIOUS! WHO KNOWS HOW MANY TIMES WE'VE ALMOST GOTTEN HIT BY THEM?"

"Dude, you've got _quite_ the _explosive_ personality there." Another laugh from Frisk makes me grin in success.

Papyrus' eyes widen even further with annoyed fury, but thankfully, Alphys butts in to save the day. "W-well…" She turns to me, a hopeful look on her face. "P-perhaps Sans has other weapons besides explosives that he can use?"

I hesitate and lower my head. "Looks like I'll just have to _bomb_ it." I grin under my breath.

* * *

Wow, this museum really is full of great things. I supposed they wouldn't mind if I took a few things.

The gears turn.

People are frozen around me. There are a few projectiles I can use here. There's even a gun, heh. I tuck it underneath my time shield. I guess it'll just have to do.

* * *

The witch raises himself on the stage, his blue cape flying. Spotlights shine onto him, bright like a real star's show. Red dolls with blue hair dance under and around it, all moving in sync. It's like a disco party, but wilder. A contraption opens up above the witch, and tons of white wheels bounce out.

"What the hell _are_ you?" Undyne screeches, flinging her spear around as she deflects the bones coming her way. "What did you do to Papyrus?"

"Papyrus!" Frisk squeaks as she ducks between the rolling wheels. "S-stop it!" Her bangs swing wildly as she runs, and there's more than enough close calls where she almost gets rolled over, but she always makes it away just in time. "This isn't something you'd want to do!"

Then suddenly, one strikes her in the face. Yelping, she falls onto the floor as the dancers giggle and mock her. More wheels are sent, directed all at Frisk. She's alone and helpless on the ground, her pink dress dusty, and the wheels are spinning towards her at top speed. No one can make it to her in time; Undyne and Alphys are both busy with their own battles.

But I know _I_ can.

The gears turn as I run, and the barrage of wheels all stop. I rush out in front of Frisk, huffing for breath as I pull out my pistol. I aim at every individual wheel that I can see and fire a bullet. It charges forward a few inches every time, but stops with time just as it gets close enough to hit the wheels.

I finally stop, sighing with relief. I wipe my skull to get rid of the beads of sweat forming there, and I take out my signal device. "Heh." I mumble darkly. "Sorry, Paps."

Time resumes, and the wheels in front of us explode with the collision of the bullets. Frisk is safe behind me. The witch stands still for a moment, confused, until a beeping sound comes from underneath it.

The witch explodes in flames, my bomb being the one that did it. It screams into the fire as the labyrinth around us fades away into nothingness. We're back at the train station again.

Undyne bangs a nearby bench with her fist, her teeth clenched together in disbelief. It's rare that I ever see her so down in the dumps. "Papyrus…" She trembles, her brows knitting together in regret. " _Damn_ it… this is…"

Frisk still sits behind me, but she's sobbing into her hands. "It's so terrible." She cries softly. "It's too much."

I myself am shaking as well, but I stop when I see yellow ribbons surround me. Before I know what's happening, they wrap around me, and I hear a gunshot and the sound of breaking glass.

Undyne's eyes are shocked and empty as she falls to the ground, her gem shattered. I swerve my skull around, fear slowly making its way into me. "A-Alphys?!"

She loads her gun, facing me and shaking so terribly that I can hardly understand how she aims the thing. She swallows a sob as she talks. "I-If the Soul Gems give birth to w- _witches_ …" She shakes, slowly becoming more and more crazy as each second ticks by. "T-then we all have to _die_!"

I struggle from the bonds holding my radius and ulna together, but I can't get free _or_ reach my shield to stop the time. This was unbelievable. Was this really going to be the end for me?

She aims her gun, ready to shoot. "B-both you and I!" Alphys cries, tears staining her collar.

"Stop it!" I yell, desperation and fear crowding me.

But then a pink arrow fires, breaking Alphys' gem. She yelps as she fires her own gun, but she's already falling to the ground, and she misses me by a landslide. The ribbons around me fade away, and I suddenly realize that Frisk was the one who saved me. For a moment, we both stare at each other with shocked silence.

"I-I've had enough." She finally wails, crumpling to the ground. "I've had enough of this…" She set the bow down beside her and ducks into her lap to cry. I slowly make my way forwards, thinking of comforting her.

"...it's okay, kid." I say after I kneel down to her height, but I know it's _not_ okay. "Let's work together. We can work _together_ to take out the Walpurgis Night."

She finally raises her head to look at me. Her expression is so pained that it makes my heart wrench, but she forces a grim smile and makes a single nod of agreement. I grin back, if only to make her feel better about all this.

Though I'm pretty sure nothing can make this better.

* * *

This time, it's the both of us.

The rain clouds above us are dark, devoid of hope. Cuts and bruises cover us, the after-effects of trying to fight the Walpurgis Night. Even the back of my skull is cracked. We're lying in the puddles, and rain falls on us, but we don't care. Our arms intertwine, each of our hands holding our gems. I hold mine in my left, Frisk hold her's in her right. They're both dull and discolored, and I know that it's the end.

Frisk turns her head towards me. "It looks like it's over for both of us." She says despondently, giving me a sad smile.

I stare back at her, a pained grin on my skull. It hurts to smile. "Say… ya got any Grief Seeds left?" She turns away for a moment before shaking her head at the sky. "...I see."

"Say." I start, and idea sparking in my mind. "I know this might sound strange, but… do you just want to become witches and destroy everything in the world?" Frisk gives me a strange look, but I plow on, looking to the sky for inspiration. "We can destroy everything. And we'll keep destroying everything, until all the bad and sad things… look like they've never happened at all. Doesn't that sound nice?" I gulp, and for a second there's no response, but then I feel a tapping against my Soul Gem.

Startled, I quickly turn my skull. Frisk is holding a Grief Seed over my gem, and it slowly sucks the blackness out of it. My eye sockets widen in shock, but Frisk just smiles sheepishly back at me.

"I lied just then." She admits. "I had one saved."

"W-what? But you _can't_ …" I bend over to look at her more clearly, obvious disappointment in my voice. "Why did you give it to me?"

"Because… I wanted to ask you to do something that I can't." The darkness in my gem slowly travels out and into the Grief Seed, and I can only watch as she explains. "You've said you can go back to the past, right Sans? You've said you can change history so this all won't have happened, right?" She breaks up more after every word, and at the end, she can barely contain sobs.

My gem's all purified now. It glows like the color of a deep ocean. It's all thanks to Frisk. Good old, innocent Frisk. Tears are falling out my eye sockets like waterfalls, but I manage a croaky, "Yeah."

Frisk sniffles, crying with me. "C-could you save my stupid self before I get tricked by Flowey?" She requests, her brown eyes staring at me. They're so sad, so lost of hope.

I hate promises, but this isn't something I can say no to. This isn't something I _want_ to say no to. "I promise." I say defiantly. "I'll _definitely_ save you. No matter what. No matter _how_ many times I have to repeat all of this, I _will_ protect you!"

I receive a small smile in return. "Thank you." She whispers.

Suddenly, her body lurches. Her gem is almost as black as night now, and I quickly pick myself up, my skull throbbing. Her gem's going to turn into a Grief Seed soon.

"C-could I ask you for one more thing?" She manages between surges of pain.

"Anything." Is my immediate and desperate response.

"...I don't want to become a witch." She croaks. "A lot of horrible and sad things have happened, but there are so many things I had in this world that I wanted to protect."

"Frisk…"

A grin suddenly spreads across her face. "Y-you called me by my name." She states, weakly raising her hand. "I-I'm so happy."

My tears are mixing with the rainwater, but I have a request to fulfill. Making my shield appear, I take out a pistol that I had stored behind it. I can barely contain undignified squeals that sound like a crying baby, but I ready my arm and aim at the gem in Frisk's hand.

It happens quickly.

And the gears turn.

* * *

When I wake up this time, my eyes are wide with determination.

I throw off the covers and hop off the bed, my bony bare feet slapping on the stone floor as I make my way to the door. My legs feel wobbly, but I fix that right up with the magic from my Soul Gem. Heading to the coat hanger close by, I sling on my blue jacket.

I couldn't count on being friends with them. They wouldn't listen, and everything would be for naught.

 _No one will believe the future. No one will be able to accept the future._ I scowl in annoyance. _Looks like I'll have to…_

* * *

The moon's in the sky. I walk up to Frisk's bedroom window, balancing on the roof tiles. This is creepy to say in the least, it may even be considered _stalking_ , but I have to take risks to secure her survival. I make my way closer to the glass, Flowey's dead body swinging from my hand.

She hears me and swerves around on her chair. "Who's there?" She asks, her gaze searching. She doesn't see me outside the window.

"Hey kid." I grin in the darkness. "If someone appears promising you a miracle, you mustn't do as he says."

"What?..." She blinks, not understanding. Her eyes search her room.

I don't respond. I just back away and fade into the shadows.

* * *

I steal guns and bones. I fire guns. I throw bombs. And I kill witches. Whatever it takes.

I won't depend on anyone anymore. There's no need for _anyone_ to understand anymore. In fact, I won't let Frisk fight anymore. I'll take care of all the witches by myself. And this time…

I'll stop the Walpurgis Night myself.

The city's torn, and the witch flies up in the air, wings spread out behind her as the world spins in chaos.

There's no time to waste. I leap upwards, soaring towards the witch. A city building is heading straight towards me, but I stop time and move out of the way just in time as it goes crashing into another one. Smoke explodes from the collision, sending flying debris everywhere.

Red flames surge towards me. I dodge the first two with time manipulation, but by the third one, I bring out my shield to block off the attack entirely. Too much magic consumption will only be a disability in this fight.

Frisk stands on a bridge below with the stupid flower-animal. She had refused to leave, insisting on watching the battle. I hadn't had time to argue, as the witch had grown impatient and had already started attacking. They're below me now, watching as I fight the witch. It looks like they're talking to one another, and I don't like it one bit.

A fireball slams straight into me, and I realize that I had been paying too much attention to Frisk. I'm sent flying straight into a tree branch, and wood comes splintering off. I lay there for a while, trying to regain my bearings. Frisk looks at me from far away, fear on her face.

"Kid!" I get up slightly, yelling as loud as I possibly can. "Don't listen to what he's saying!"

She looks towards my direction for a moment, but then her attention returns to focusing on Flowey as he spouts lies at her. The branch I'm on snaps, and I'm suddenly sent plummeting down towards the earth. "Don't be tricked!" I scream desperately as I free-fall through the air. "That's what he wants!"

She's not listening. I can only watch from far away as she's suddenly surrounded by a bright, red light. " _NO!_ " I shout, but I can't be heard any longer.

It's already been done.

* * *

" _Wow_." Flowey grins giddily. "Transformed Frisk was _really_ quite a sight!"

I kneel, alone at the edge of the the floating metal platform, half-submerged in the ocean of rain. A huge, dark figure stands in the distance, half covered by clouds. Flowey sits comfortably on the other end, grinning knowingly.

"I had predicted she'd be the strongest Magical Monster, but…" He smiles wider, showing fangs. "I _never_ would have imagined she'd destroy the Walpurgis Night in _one hit_!"

I turn around slowly, eye sockets dark. "You did that, _knowing_ what would probably happen?"

He shrugs his tail, indifferent. "Sooner or later, the same thing would've happened either way." He looks to the sky, seeming content. "She defeated the greatest enemy as the strongest Magical Monster. So of course, _naturally_ she would have to become the worst witch after that was over." The both of us face the dark figure in the distance. Frisk's witch. "In this form, she'll probably destroy the planet within ten days or so, hehe!" He turns to me, smiling. "The rest is your problem, you idiot. Or humanity's problem! Either way, I've already pretty much hit the quota of energy that I needed to collect."

I pick myself up, and walk away from Flowey. I walk away from the grey shape in the distance, and I walk away from this fate altogether.

Flowey pauses, and turns to me. "Aren't you going to fight?" He teases.

"Nope." I reply, monotonous. " _My_ battlefield is elsewhere."

Flowey's smile suddenly disappears, and his eyes go wide with disbelief. "Smiley trashbag?" He starts. "Are you-?"

Too late.

The gears are already turning.

* * *

I shoot Flowey's body and it explodes apart, but a clone of himself is already darting behind me. I chase after it, and his paws thrum on the ground as it runs. I aim some bones at it, and it barely avoids each one as it jumps. I'm so close.

 _I'll repeat it. I'll continue to repeat it over and over. Visiting the same time again and again, searching for the single exit out. Searching for the path to save her from a fate of despair._

I duck behind some columns, but startle to a stop when I see her. It's Frisk, and before her lies a limp Flowey. She carefully reaches forward to pick it up and cradle it in her arms. The sight of that creature exploiting Frisk's innocence made me feel sick.

I step forward, and she looks up. _Frisk… my one and only friend._

Her eyes are fear-filled as she stares at me. "S-Sans?" She asks weakly.

I hate this. The way she looks at me, like I'm some dangerous monster. Like I can't be trusted, like I'm here to harm her. I don't even realize it, but I'm slowly taking steps backwards. Annoyed, I grit my teeth and clench my hands. I regain my posture and walk forwards to make up for the steps I took backwards. I erase all signs of sympathy on my face.

'Cause… if it's for _Frisk_ … I have no problem being trapped eternally in this maze.


	12. The final sign left

Papyrus' funeral.

The radio; "The dust of a student monster from the municipal institution Ebbot Middle School, who went missing the 12th of this month, was found in a room of a construction site. The crime scene shows no signs of struggle and the police are continuing the investigation by searching for evidence of a potential accident or crime.

"The weather is up next. There will be a slightly strong breeze from the northwest accompanied by rain."

Rain was right. I even needed an umbrella. That was how depressing it was. Everything was in the perfect gloom.

"Welcome home, child." Toriel says kindly, motioning me inside.

* * *

"Child, about Papyrus…" Toriel confronts me next to the balcony. "You really don't know anything about what happened, right?"

"Yeah." I lie through my teeth. Then I leave. But Toriel's concerned gaze never leaves me.

* * *

I'm on my bed now. It always seems to be where my self-important thoughts happen.

"Papyrus and Undyne died." I whisper. The statement itself is so wild, I don't even believe it.

A light shines from my window. "It's _really_ not that surprising. The symptoms that everything would've turned out this way have been showing for a little while."

I quickly get up to confront Flowey, who's once again inside my room. "And you don't care?" I spit. "Everyone _died_ because of you!"

Flowey sighs, an amused look on his face as he shrugs one of his shoulders. "Just to put an example out there, do you feel like you're inferior to a group of cattle?" I falter. "Do you even know how the food comes to sit on your table?" I look into his eyes, and then I suddenly see something I don't want to see.

I snap my gaze away. "Stop that!"

"My, my," Flowey flicks his tail. "Responding that way doesn't make any sense. If you think what I just showed you was cruel, then you don't understand what's really going on. See, by choosing to become part of a human household, they breed free from opposing natural forces and are sheltered from survival of the fittest. Cows, pigs, and birds, compared to wild animals, generally have a reproductive rate far better than the rest. Wouldn't you say you humans have the perfect symbiotic relationship with them?"

"...you're trying to say you're the same."

"Actually," He corrects, "We're treating you much more equally than the way all of you treat cattle. While this may not be the best arrangement, we recognize that you are sentient beings when we negotiate with all of you." I hunch in on myself. "What? You don't believe in me? Then, how about I show you instead? I'll show you the history through which the Incubators and humanity have walked together."

To my mistake, I look into his eyes. Suddenly, I see. Past rings of rainbows, to the early cavemen, and then to the first princess.

"We got involved in your world before your recorded history." Flowey states. It's like watching a slideshow. "Countless numbers of girls and monsters have formed contracts with Incubators, had their hopes realized, and lost themselves to despair, like the idiots they are. It always starts with a wish or desire, and ends up with them being cursed or falling into despair. It's a cycle which many Magical Monsters have repeated. It's kill or be killed out there, you know. This even includes monsters who have changed history forever and lead your society to new stages."

"J-just stop it already!" I try to look away. "Everyone trusted you. They trusted you and you betrayed them!"

"We weren't the only ones to betray them." Flowey puts in. "It was their own stupid desire. No matter the desire, if it's something irrational, then it will always distort reality in some way if it comes true. Then it's obvious that natural law dictates that only bad could eventually come from that. If you want to call the result of that action 'betrayal,' then having the wish in the first place would be the mistake. But I won't call it _foolish_ , exactly. More like stupid. Though, your kind's sacrifices have certainly further advanced the story of human history."

It finally stops. I'm left panting on my bed, eyes wide and alert.

"Thus all the tears shed until now have led to the foundation on which your current society is based. Your current style of life. If you understand that, then how can you treat the fate of a few humans at most differently than the rest of humanity's?"

I slowly raise my head. "Have you felt nothing watching everyone all this time?" I gulp. "Didn't you try to understand just how much they were going through?"

"If I could understand, we wouldn't have had to go out of our way to come to this planet in the first place." Is Flowey's response. "In our civilization, the phenomenon you call emotions is regarded as nothing more than a disorder attained from the lack of a soul. That's why we were surprised when we found you humans. The existence of a world where every single individual carries their own soul and coexists never even crossed our minds."

"If none of you ever came to this world…" I tried.

"You'd probably still be unclothed living in caves, I guess."

* * *

It's still raining. But at least I've found his place.

The hall is dark and the door is uninviting, but I ring the doorbell anyway. A moment later, it creaks open, revealing a skeleton. Sans looks surprised to see me.

"Can I come in?"

It takes a moment for him to respond, but he finally chooses to let me in.

* * *

It's the strangest room I've ever seen, that is, if you could even call it a room. The color is an eerily clean white, with the exception of some blue dots decorating the ground. Many assortments of pictures and articles float around, suspended in the air by nothing. Where a chandelier might usually be in a room, it is instead replaced by a large mechanism of gears and metal wheels. A lurking shadow swings itself back and forth from the ceiling. All around me are long benches, intertwining around the center focus of the room, a simple, small round table.

Sans stands on one side of the table. "The Walpurgis Night…" I start, trying to catch his attention, "Undyne had said you two were going to work together to defeat a powerful witch. One that she herself couldn't even take care of on her own." I look around the room, examining the articles and pictures in the air. "You've been getting ready for that here this whole time, right?"

Sans' dark eye sockets narrow, and I realize that it's true. "Is the entire city in danger?" I ask, worried.

He gives me a cold, annoyed look. "Unlike the witches _you've_ seen so far, this one has no need to hide in barriers to protect itself. In fact, just by coming into existence, several thousands of humans _and_ monsters will fall." I gasp a little, but he plows on. "But since no one can see this one either, they'll mistakenly think the damage is caused by a natural disaster. An earthquake, tornado… something of the like."

"So that just means we have to take it out no matter what. Right?" Sans doesn't respond, just looks impatient, as if he's dreading something. "Undyne's gone too. You're the only Magical Monster who's left to fight." An idea comes to mind. "That means I can-"

"I'll be fine by myself." Sans sounds insulted that I'd even thought about the idea of helping him. "Even though it may not have been possible for Undyne, I myself am perfectly capable of taking out the Walpurgis Night. In fact," He turns to one side, "I never really needed her help in the first place. I just wanted to give her a chance to save face."

"Really?" He nods, but I don't think he's telling the truth. "I don't get it." I finally admit, taking a step forward. "I want to believe you. I don't want to think that you're a liar. But," I sniff a little, afraid. "I can't make myself believe that you'll be okay… I can't make myself believe that what you say is the truth…"

Sans is still, a very dark and grim expression on his face. He turns his back on me, hands clenched inside the pockets of his jacket. "There's no way I can tell you how it really is." He growls.

"...huh?"

"I mean…" He sounds frustrated. "I mean, I'm living in a different time than you! How can I?..." He suddenly turns, and a second later, teleports to my side and slips his arms around me into a tight hug. I'm so surprised, I don't even know how to return the gesture. My shoulder feels wet.

"I've come from the future, you know?" He cries. "I've met you over and over again, and each time, I've seen you die. How do I save you, kid? How can I change your fate? I've been looking so long for that answer, and that one only. I've gone back to the beginning. I've done it again and again and again..."

"That means…" I have a hard time comprehending it. It is so bizarre, and my brain just doesn't understand any of what he's saying. "H-huh?..."

"...I'm sorry." He apologizes. "You probably don't get any of this. In fact, you're probably completely put off by all this. 'Cause, to you…" He finally lets go a bit, and looks me in the eyes. There are tears on the edges of his sockets. "I'm just some transfer student you haven't even known for a month." He says sadly. "But to me… you're-" He breaks off mid sentence, tears streaming down his skull.

He hangs down his head. "Each time I repeat this, our time together grows farther apart. Our feelings grow farther apart, 'till I can't reach you anymore. I think… I've lost myself a long time ago. My desire to save you… was the emotion that started this all. But now that I've come this far, the only star that will help guide my way is…" He finally looks up, a determined expression on his face. The tears have stopped, but the streaks are still there. "You don't have to understand. My words don't have to resonate with you. But please, kiddo. Just… let me protect you." At my blank face, his face hardens. "Please. Just let me protect you!"

* * *

It's _still_ raining. Something's definitely not right.

The puddles have grown so large, they're like miniature lakes crowding on the sidewalks. Everywhere is drippy wet. The buildings are black like night. The sky is still dark, and the clouds are grey with the foreshadowing of something horrible to come. Sounds of lightning light up the clouds, threatening the citizens with its angry growls. It is going to be a deadly storm.

However, we are safe inside the evacuation building. All the elderly have been escorted and safely gathered. Green mats and orange blankets have been provided for every family. Volunteers go around, making sure everyone is satisfied with what they have.

"Is this like a sleepover?" Asriel asks excitedly. "Is this like a camping trip?"

"Of course." Asgore chuckles, patting him on the head. "We're going camping!"

But their laughter does not reach me. I sit on my own solitude corner of the blanket, worrying about Sans.

I can imagine it perfectly. He would stand on the edge of a lonely bridge alone. The murky waters would rush past him, the wind tossing and turning. The clouds running past him like a river. Steam rising until it surrounded his legs, hiding him from the outside world and trapping him inside of a deadly labyrinth of the witch.

Sounds of rushing wind, explosions, crashing, and the ashes of a burning fire. But mainly laughter. Loud, terrifying, maniacal laughter-

The roof of the safe house shakes back and forth, the lights hanging from it are tossing and flickering. I'm momentarily brought out from my daze. The storm must be really rough. Curious, I stand up, but Toriel notices.

"Is there anything wrong, my child?" She asks, sounding worried.

I lie. "I, um… need to use the bathroom."

* * *

We stand at an edge balcony close to the window where I can see the rain viciously attacking the the trees' branches outside, but I am still safe in the building. I am safe, while Sans is out there a battling a witch out in the dark, rainy storm.

"Is it true that Sans can win by himself?" I ask Flowey, who sits on the railing next to me.

After a moment of hesitation, Flowey puts on a pitiless expression. "Nope!" At my set face however, he looks back out the window with me. "There's nothing I can say to convince you at this point though, huh?" He shakes his petals a little, looking nonchalant. "Just watch for yourself. See just how far Sans can get by himself."

"But why would he go so far to fight?" I sigh.

"He still seeks hope." Comes Flowey's amused answer. "If it comes down to it, he might end up nullifying this timeline like how he has done it in the past before continuing to fight. That idiot will keep repeating this meaningless chain of events, coming out none the wiser. Although, giving up and refusing to move forward will basically bring about the same meaning to him now..."

I think I'm beginning to realize what he means, and Flowey confirms it for me. "The moment that he's convinced there's no way for him to change your fate, and that it was all pointless…" Flowey grins. "Sans will fall to his despair and turn into a grief seed."

At my terrified expression, Flowey shrugs his shoulders. "He knows this. And that's why, for him, there's no choice. It doesn't matter if there's no chance to win, because he still has no chance but to fight."

"So you're saying that he'll have no chance for salvation… unless he loses hope?"

"Yep. He's just like every other Magical Monster in the past." He turns to me. "You saw it too, didn't you?

I remember the night Flowey came to me to explain things. How all Magical Monsters in the past were all met with the same fate of falling into despair. Afraid, I tuck my head into my hands to hide. I have to think this through.

There has to be a way to stop this.

"But…" I sniff, head held up with determination. I turn around, ready to head down the stairs. "...but!"

However, a furry hand stops me. It latches onto my arm, firm but careful. Confused, I look back to see a worried Toriel. Flowey has disappeared. We just stare at each other in silence for a moment.

"Child." She starts, eyes narrowing. "Just where are you trying to go?"

"Mom." I look at her stern face, but I know that she is just worried for me. I look back down the stairs. "I have to go save my friend-"

"Leave it to the firemen." She tells me, starting to pull me back up the stairs. "Civilians have to sit still."

I turn to her again, desperate. "But it has to be me!-" I stop when I see her expression. Her eyes are dark, are eyebrows knitted, and her mouth strung into a grim line. She is not holding back anymore. She is angry.

"Do not be selfish." She says, voice a bit louder than usual. "Do you not know how much we worry about you-"

"I know!" I shout back before taking a deep breath to calm down my voice. "I know that very well." When her expression does not change, I continue. "I love you, mom. And dad too. I know you all care about me. I know how much I have to value my life. And that…" I gulp. "And that's why you're wrong. Everyone is important to me. So I have to protect every single one of them.

"This is why I cannot be here. This is why I have to go."

Toriel looks a little broken and afraid. "You…" Her voice trembles. "You can't explain what's going on to us, can you, my child?" I nod. "Then at least take me with you." She insists. I shake my head.

"I can't." I say. "But stay by Dad and Asriel. Make sure they feel better." At her stubborn gaze, I say, "You said I grew up to be a good kid, right? That I don't do bad things. Do you… still believe that? Will you trust me, that what I'm doing is right?"

She seems ready to make a protest, but then stops herself. "You won't mess up, will you? It's not like…" Her eyes flit to the side. "Someone is tricking you, right?"

"No." I promise.

After a moment, she bends down and gives me a hug. A tight, warm, motherly hug that can reassure any child's heart. She finally lets go, and nods at me.

I can't resist the smile. "Thanks, mom." I say, and I turn and let my shoes clop down the stairs, and when I leave, I don't look back.

* * *

He lies among the rubble of destroyed buildings. His tibia is trapped under concrete-hard rock. He is bruised and bleeding and dying and there is no hope left for him. The life is seeping out of him, and the darkness and despair, are slowly crowding in on him, and the sky seems darker than it ever was before, but I reach out…

And I hold onto Sans' hand.

"That's enough now." I say at his shocked expression, so I feel obliged to repeat myself. "That's enough, Sans."

"Frisk." He says it in awe, like he cannot believe what he is seeing is true. I notice that there are cracks running through the back of his skull. He's had enough pain now.

I stand and turn away from him, staring at the abomination in the sky. The scene is very familiar, I have seen it before in the dream that started it all. Cities and concrete torn from the earth they were built upon, and were now drifting around in an infinite black space. In the center of it all flies the Walpurgis Night. She is upside-down, adorned in a fancy blue dress, and is beating glowy disproportionate patterns all around her. It is just like how I remember it.

"Kid?" He finally notices Flowey standing beside me, and his eyes widen with dread. "No, you can't be…!"

I turn to him again, giving him an apologetic expression. But my mind is set. "Sorry, Sans." I say quietly.

* * *

 **Please inform me whether you would like the next chapter's section to have a portion of Sans' POV! (Since most of the narration at the end of the anime is made by Homura, not including their perspective would only result in a short and unclear ending.)**


	13. My Best Friend

"Sorry Sans." I say. "I'm going to become a Magical Girl."

"But, kid…" He looks horrified. "You can't!"

"I finally know what I want." I respond. "I've found the wish that I want to be granted to me. And for that wish, I'll pay with my life."

" _Stop it_!" Sans growls, a scared edge to his voice. "What's the point if… why would I even have done all this…" Rebellious tears are escaping his eye sockets again. It's fascinating how they appear. Feeling a little at loss for words, I come over to stand next to him. Hesitantly, I bend down and cradle his skull in my arms.

"I'm sorry." I say again. "But… I believe I am standing here because of _you_. Because you wanted to protect me, because you cared about me." His skeletal fingers clasp around my arm, but I move to get back up and he lets go. "This is the answer I've finally found. Please believe in me. I promise I won't squander what you've done for me."

"Kid…"

"Now that you control the fate of many worlds and have become a singularity for cause and effect," Flowey hums thoughtfully. "I should be able to grant you your any wish, no matter how absurd it is."

"That _is_ the truth right?" I still can't hide the doubt from my voice. The possibility it might not work still lingers with this mysterious being.

"Now Frisk." Flowey starts contentedly and curiously, stepping upon a taller rock to project his words, "With your soul as reparation, for what shall you wish?"

"I…" I pause, turn to face Flowey more fully, and take the deepest, biggest breath I had ever taken in my life before speaking. I have to word it as carefully as possible.

"I want to eliminate all witches before their birth." The words come out of my mouth. "Every single witch in every single universe, under my own power, past and future."

Flowey is startled by my request, but the process has already begun. My chest is shining a vibrant red, and if I had to guess, it was the sacrifice of my soul letting my wish come into fruition. It is so vibrant, I have to shut my eyes.

However, that doesn't keep me from hearing Flowey. "B-but if that wish comes true," He squeaks, squinting at the light blossoming from my chest. "We won't just be talking temporal manipulation anymore! You'd be opposing the very laws of causality themselves!" His voice turns disbelieving. "Do you really plan on becoming a god?"

"I don't care what you call it." I state firmly. "I don't want any Magical Monsters that have fought until today to cry. I want them to remain smiling. I'll destroy any rule that stands in my way. I'll change them all. That," I say, "Is my wish. Now grant me this, Incubator!"

What happens next is indescribable. What I feel next is indescribable.

And a bright, flashing, blinding light envelops the earth.

* * *

 _"F-Frisk, do you know just how_ daunting _that wish is?"_

 _"Probably." I stare at the slice of cake sitting before me, untouched._

 _Alphys pours me a cup of tea, but her worried expression does not escape her face. "You'll be fighting forever, past and future, for all time. It might even mean… you'll cease to exist as an individual. And it's not even nice like dying. You'll just be… implanted in the universe as a concept. A concept just for destroying witches."_

 _"That's fine." I say. "It was my plan anyway. I have to keep harboring hope. I'll say it as many times as it takes."_

 _"Well, why not?" I turn in surprise. Undyne is ravenously tearing into a slice of cake with her bare hands, but it doesn't keep her from talking. "If you can do it, then why not? Because now, you've found a reason to fight." She's finished her last crumb. "You've decided not to run away anymore, and to face it head on instead. Then fine!" She pumps a fist. "Then all you've gotta do now, punk, is to do what you gotta do!"_

 _"Yeah!" I grin. "Thanks, Undyne."_

 _"Y-you're not just going to make people's hopes come true though." Alphys smiles. "You are going to become hope itself. The hope for all of us."_

* * *

I am set, I am determined, and I know what I have to do.

The Walpurgis Night is laughing at me, she does not know what I am capable of. Intrigued by the light, she comes forward to see how much fun I will be for her.

My bangs are flying, and sparkles surround me. The end of my wooden bow flowers into a rose, and the red string finally appears. I draw it back, and a burst of pink smoke blooms out from behind me into an awake fire.

I turn the bow upwards, and once the arrow appears, I let go. It sails upwards, letting off tendrils of salmon-colored designs trailing into the sky. When it hits the air, the sky is immediately transformed. The grey disintegrates, and the blue returns in full color.

It's raining red streaks of hope. And they will reach whoever needs them.

* * *

In a grassy field of a carnival, a young monster's soul gem is slowly becoming dark. Her gem is cracking, and her eyes shine of fear and despair.

But I appear, and take her hands into mine. She watches as the despair leaves her gem, and she watches it returns to its original, beautiful green state before dissolving into the air. She smiles, cries tears of happiness, and lets her soul rest in peace.

A forest girl lays underneath a tree. The brown gem upon her arm is tainted and dark, but I appear and I tell the darkness leave. The gem disappears with the darkness, but she does not look upset. She smiles with relief and lays her head upon her blanket.

And I am there. Soaring across deserts, cities, oceans, islands, volcanoes…

I will appear to the little monster sitting upon a chair with her teddy bear. I will appear to the little viking girl squatting alone at the beach. I will appear to the the despair-trotten ones laying among the ashes.

I appear to those in torn cities, in bombed communities, in shelters, fires, palaces, bonfires, everywhere...

I refuse to let their wishes end in despair. And so I cleanse their souls, and let their spirits free. Now none of them will haunt other people. None of them will curse anyone. I will bear the fate of them all. _So all of you, please…_

 _...believe in yourself until the end._

* * *

The Walpurgis Night is chuckling, for she does not believe it. Herself, defeated by a mere trifle? She laughs, for it's hilarious. She laughs maniacally as the arrows tear into her dress, and as she is torn away into shreds while they drift off into space as nothing more than dust.

"It's okay. It's okay now." The gear that was once underneath her remains, and I speak to it. "You don't have to hate anyone anymore. You don't have to curse anyone anymore." I lift my arms in offering. "I'll assume your burden before you take that form."

She is broken apart. Her darkness is separated, and she laughs and laughs, and the light is bright and the world is gone.

* * *

I've accumulated enough hope to almost start an entire new universe. But with that, there was also enough despair to counter it too. It was an obvious outcome. It surrounds the world, dark and scary and unforgiving, but...

"Don't worry." I say. "It's okay."

Sans looks down at me from below, afraid and uncertain. But I know what I'm doing. "My wish was to erase all witches." I explain. "If that really came true, then I would have no reason to feel despair any further either."

Something inside me has changed. I lift the bow again, and this time fire it at the world below me.

* * *

We are not on earth anymore. That much was obvious.

We were way out beyond. We were outside of the world, of the universe. Where everything was just a fuzzy haze, and things in existence were not quite in existence, and where things were real, were not quite there.

"Your life now has no beginning or end." Flowey voice echoes at me. "There is now no proof of your living, or with memories that you had lived here. Your existence has shifted to a higher plane, and has now become nothing more than a concept. No one can perceive you, and likewise, you cannot interact with anyone else. You have now ceased to be a member of this universe."

" _What_?" He growls, infuriated. "Are you saying this is the conclusion the kid wanted? Are you saying that her wish granted her _this_ ending? You can't be serious! That's…" He buries his skull in his hands. "That's worse than _dying_ …"

"No, you're wrong, Sans." He stops, and turns to face me. "I can see the past and future now. I can see all the universes that may come to be. Every single one."

"Kid…"

"That's why I know." I insist, "I know how hard you tried to help me all that time. I know everything now. Just how many times you cried, how many times you were hurt… and it was all for me. I…" I hug him close to me, not wanting to let go. "I'm sorry I didn't notice until now."

After a moment, Sans hugs me back. Our hold on each other is tight.

"I was able to know the real you because I ended up this way." I explain. "I've found out that there was a great friend that was by my side the whole time." I think back on all those timelines, one's where Sans helped me, where he tried to save me. "So I'm happy now. Sans…" At the sound of his name, he looks at me and I smile. "Thank you. You were my best friend until the end."

"But now you'll never return." He says sadly. "And you'll be separated from everyone you care about! And now you'll be trapped here between space and time alone for all eternity…"

"But I'm not alone." I promise. "I'm not alone, because everyone will always be with me. Because from now on, I will always be everywhere, and at any time, right there. That's why even if you can't see or hear me, I'll still be right there by your side."

"Kid, that's…" He tilts his head a little. "That's okay with you? Even if…" He grits his teeth. "Even if I forget you? Even if I won't be able to know you're there?"

"Now, now," I shake my head. "It's too early to give up. After all, you did follow me here! So even when you return to the old world, you just might still remember me." I reach behind my neck and feel for the clasp of the necklace. Taking it off, I set it into the palms of Sans' skeletal hands. He looks up at me, uncertain. "It'll be fine." I reassure him. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We just have to believe, okay?"

"Frisk…"

"Magical Monsters make hopes and dreams come true, after all." I grin, finally letting go. "I'm sure if it's small enough, a real miracle just might happen. Isn't that right?"

"Wait, kid!" Sans has one hand holding the necklace, and the other reaching for me. "Don't leave yet!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go meet up with everyone else. But maybe, I'll be able to see you again someday. So until then, we'll be apart…" I allow myself to fade away. "...just for a little bit."

"Friiiiiiisk!" He shouts, but he is already being pulled away, back to where he belongs in the world. Where I will, hopefully, meet him again someday.

* * *

He stands up on stage, legs swinging and performance ongoing. Mettaton is fabulous as ever, lights flash and those backstage try their best to keep up with him. It is like a disco party, wild and fun. All the seats around us are filled to the brim with cheering monsters and people. They cheer and shout and wave their arms to the dance. Mettaton looks like he is having a great time.

"SORRY FOR ALL THE TROUBLE." Papyrus finally says, sitting next to me in his ghostly form.

"Nah," I shake my head. "I'm… I'm sorry too. Because to save you, I would've had no choice but to make it so nothing ever happened. Except, if I did…" I look back onstage where Mettaton dances. "This version of the future would disappear too. But I had a feeling you wouldn't want that to happen, right Paps? I mean, your wish was really precious to you. I don't think it was very pointless in the end at all, so that's why…"

After a moment, Papyrus nods. He looks oddly satisfied. "YEAH!" He smiles. "I THINK THIS IS FINE FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! IT'S JUST..." He lets out a happy sigh. "I WANTED TO SEE ONE MORE PERFORMANCE FROM METTATON. AND I WANT MORE PEOPLE TO SEE HIS PERFORMANCES TOO. JUST REMEMBERING THAT FEELING IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME! AND I HAVE NO MORE REGRETS LEFT, EITHER!"

Then as an afterthought, "ACTUALLY." Papyrus huffs. "THE OUTCOME WAS A BIT DISAPPOINTING. HOW COULD I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, STILL NOT BE A MAGICAL MONSTER UNTIL THE VERY END? AND THAT SITUATION WITH NAPSTABLOOK..." He nods sadly. "THEY'LL BE HAPPY, RIGHT?"

"Yeah." I smile at him, proud of his decisions. But we've been here long enough. It's time for our departure. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"...Alright." Papyrus finally agrees, and gets up with me while we fade away into the seats.

* * *

 **Sans POV**

The labyrinth fades away in front of us, the fires extinguished with the witch.

"Where's Papyrus?" Undyne calls out, her eyes narrowed as she looks around at us. "Hey! What happened to Papyrus?"

Alphys steps closer to Undyne, but could only look down at the ground. "He's gone." She answers in a sad whisper, "H-he was guided away by the Law of the Wheel." I flinch at the term. "He… he used all his magic in that last attack, s-so…"

Angry, Undyne slams her fist into a nearby pole, nearly bending it despite being made of metal. "That _dummy_! What's the good of disappearing over some stupid hunk of bolts?!"

"I-It's the fate of a Magical Monster." Alphys responds quietly, looking over the train station with a forlorn expression. "I-It's before the result of having sought out a wish to bring despair upon the world, w-we have to disappear like that."

I let these words soak into my skull, but I can't help but feel helpless. My hands shaking, I take the heart locket out from my pocket. Its golden chain rests in my skeletal palm, cold but warm with memories.

Holding the locket fills me with memories of Frisk. I remember her smiling face whenever she was hanging out with me, her laughter whenever I told a pun, and her determined gaze every time she was confronted with a problem. She was brave, she was strong, and she was kind. Too kind.

Thinking of Frisk makes me tremble more. I hug the locket to my chest, feeling my body shake with sadness and frustration.

"Frisk." I whimper quietly.

For a moment, there's only silence in which I can hear my own ragged breaths exhaling in and out. I hear Undyne and Alphys turning to look at me.

"S-Sans?" Alphys looks genuinely confused. " 'Frisk?' W-who's that?"

Undyne cocks her head sideways, looking confused as well. "Who?"

* * *

On the way back home, I pass by a familiar sand pit and see a little goat boy. Recognizing Asriel, I step into the pit and kneel down next to him to see what he's drawing in the sand. When he sees me looking, he looks up with a happy expression.

"Frisk!" He grins, gesturing to the drawing in the sand. To my surprise, it really _was_ Frisk. This particular etched drawing was of her in her Magical Monster costume. How the the goat kid had such great drawing skill, I didn't know. "Frisk!" Asriel repeats enthusiastically.

My heart clenches, but the sight makes me smile. Even though Frisk was gone, some people would still remember her. "Yep." I say. "It looks just like her."

Asriel blinks for a moment, staring at a section under my skull. I look down and see the heart locket dangling from my neck right within his reach. For a moment, he reaches his paw forward as if to grab it, but he's quickly pulled back by someone else.

"Asriel, you shouldn't do that." King Asgore had snatched his child up, bopping him teasingly on the nose. "You shouldn't touch things that aren't yours."

"Frisk!" Asriel cheers. "Frisk!"

"I'm so very sorry," Toriel chuckles as she heads over to me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I say, getting back on my feet. "Sorry for stopping you two." I look over to Asriel in amusement, seeing he was still excitedly yelling Frisk's name in Asgore's arms. "Frisk, right kid?"

Asriel stops for a moment, like he's surprised someone would actually listen to him. "Yeah!" He answers.

Asriel and Asgore go off to play in the grass next to the bridge. The goat kid is just plain adorable. The sky is turning into a darker shade of orange, the yellow sun starting to sink into the horizon. Toriel sits herself down upon a higher hill of grass where she can watch her husband and child, and I sit next to her, deciding to ask her about Asriel's words.

"You mean that invisible friend of his when he plays by himself?" Toriel chuckles, before shaking her head. "It's pretty common for children, I suppose."

"Yeah." I sigh nostalgically. "I remember her, too."

"You know Frisk as well?" Toriel smiles, looking intrigued. "Is she a character from some anime or something?"

" 'm not sure." I mumble. "I guess I remember hearing about her from somewhere."

"That makes sense." She nods once. "I wonder if I've seen her somewhere with Asriel at some point. Because sometimes… the name just sounds so very familiar." She then lets her gaze wander to the sky. "Frisk…" She hums the name thoughtfully.

"I see."

There's a moment where the two of us are just sitting in silence, but then Toriel looks over and sees the locket hanging from my neck. "Is that a necklace?" She inquires curiously.

"Yep."

"That's very peculiar." She chuckles. "I must admit I'm surprised. I don't wear jewelry very often, but… I know your necklace is very pretty."

"What?" I grin jokingly. "You want it?"

Toriel laughs, swatting her paw in front of her. "It wouldn't look good on me, anyway. Although, if I had a daughter, I don't think I would've minded getting one for her to wear."

I can't help it, but I smile. The ironic feeling in this whole conversation was amusing at most, but the genuinity of her words makes me feel like there may be some of Frisk left in this world after all.

Toriel and I resume our peaceful silence, and we sit still as we watch the sunset.

* * *

"Oh, I see!" Flowey exclaims, pacing in front of me. "What you're saying would make a decent hypothesis for everything."

It was nighttime, and the full moon shone above us. Flowey was next to me, listening to the story I had just told him about Madoka's sacrifice. I was sitting on the rooftop of a skyscraper, examining the black squares placed next to my Soul Gem. They acted just like grief seeds, sucking the darkness out of it. Picking one up, I toss it at Flowey. The red circle on his back opens up, taking the offending object.

"It's not a hypothesis." I say gruffly. "It's what happened."

"Well," Flowey snorts, wiggling his tail, "Even if it were, there's no way you'd be able to prove it. Like, per say, if the rules of the universe were rewritten like how you say it was, you'd have no way of verifying it. Heck," He scoffs, "if only you have memories of it, it'd be no different from a dream that only you had."

Disgruntled, I toss another black square at him. He catches it easily.

"Although it's true that we don't know the cause for disappearing soul gems that can't be purified, I find your concept of the mentioned witches pretty interesting. Such an appealing way to collect human emotional energy! Makes me wish I'd thought of it. If something so good existed, I'd bet all the incubators' tactics may have been different."

"Too true." I reply, casting the incubator a glare. "It's just like something you would do."

Flowey tilts his flower head in question. "But in the world you mentioned, the beasts we're fighting now didn't exist, right? Isn't it just a quicker way to gather curses?"

"It's not that simple." I say, "And we weren't exactly on great terms with you, either."

Even though we now lived in a world where witches weren't born, that alone hadn't seemed to be enough to end the curses people harbored on the world. The distortions of people's curses had merely changed forms, and they still attacked people, but from the shadows instead. They were like glitches, disfigured spirits in white cloaks that hid from prying eyes.

Flowey huffs with disappointment at my response, striding proudly behind me. "I really don't get you idiots at all." He says, rolling his eyes. Annoyed, I toss the rest of the used squares in Flowey's direction. Using his ears, he manages to catch all of them and slip them into his back.

Getting up from my sitting position, I sense an eerie tension in the air, lingering next to the other roofs of the skyscrapers nearby. Flowey crawls onto my arm, sniffing the air.

"The bad air sure is thick tonight." He guesses, "Those magical beasts just keep popping up one after another. There's just no end to them, huh?"

"Complaining gets us nowhere." I say quickly. "Let's go."

I jump from the top of the skyscraper into the white mist below, with Flowey clinging onto my shoulder. I feel the air rush past my skull, and let the thoughts of Frisk's sacrifice consume me.

This may have been a world with no salvation. It may have been a world where sadness and hate only repeated itself. But even still… it was a place that she had once tried to protect.

It was a place _Frisk_ tried to protect.

A pair of giant, purple wings sprout from my back, magic allowing me to slow down my fall right before landing on the ground. Almost immediately, the spirit glitches are surrounding me, almost like they had just been waiting for me the whole time. Their stony expressions are blank, but I stand up and lift my arm.

I feel a blast of magic spilling from me, and a purple bow suddenly appears in my hand. I smile, remembering Frisk's old weapon. It was mine, now. Putting on a grim expression, I lift it to my enemies, a blue bone arrow magically manifesting itself onto the bowstring and in the palm of my bony hand.

I remembered her sacrifices. I remembered her. And I would never forget it.

I let the arrow go, the smallest of skeletal smiles forming on my face. "It's a-bow-t time." I grin.

 _And that's why I'll keep fighting._

* * *

 **Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember her, you are not alone.**


End file.
